Father Figments
by chelz22
Summary: Kristy is reminded again of what it means for someone to be a father. Prequel to The Way Things Were. WIP
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** I don't own the Babysitter's Club or anything associated with it. I do, however, obsess about it. These stories are the result.

This story takes place a year before _The Way Things Were._ Read. Enjoy. Review.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sam! Get out of the bathroom!" Kristy yelled, pounding her fist against the door. "I need to brush my teeth!" Frustrated, she gave the door a swift kick. It held tight, and she retreated back to her room to get ready for the day. 

After getting dressed into jeans and an orange sweatshirt with a pumpkin on it, she threw her hair back into a sloppy ponytail and stole a quick glance into the mirror. Appearance wise, Kristy Thomas at fourteen wasn't that different than whom she had been a year ago, in eighth grade. However, just about everything else about her was different. It was the end of the October of her freshman year at Stoneybrook High School, which was a big adjustment after middle school, eighth grade in particular, which had seemed to last forever. Last year she had been the president of her own business, The Babysitter's Club, but it had since disbanded, and now she only baby-sat occasionally, as she was really busy between her school work and sports schedule.

Kristy also had a new best friend. Abby Stevenson was her next door neighbor, classmate, former business partner and teammate. Though they had been friends since they met about a year ago, it wasn't really a surprise that now they were closer than ever. They were together almost every moment of the day, from riding the bus together in the morning to doing their homework together at night.

Kristy left her bedroom and passed the bathroom on her way downstairs. It appeared that Sam, her older brother was out, but David Michael, her younger brother was now in. Her family lived in an honest to God mansion, but there still were never enough bathrooms.

Walking into the kitchen, Kristy stopped to tickle her little sister, Emily Michelle, who was happily munching on the cereal that she was eating for breakfast.

"Is that you Kristy?"

"It's me mom," Kristy replied. "Why are you down here? I thought Watson said that he was going to make pancakes for everyone this morning."

"He had a long night sweetie, so I decided to let him sleep in. You look nice today. Are your brothers ready for school?"

"I think so."

"This handsome young man is," said Nannie, her grandmother, who walked into the kitchen with David Michael.

"Handsome?" Kristy snickered. "I guess we all know that you're not talking about Sam then."

"Kristy!" Elizabeth admonished.

Sam walked into the kitchen and grabbed a banana, pulling on the end of Kristy's ponytail as he passed. "Where is the love down here?"

"Ow!" Kristy yelled. "Sam!"

David Michael laughed and gave Sam a high five. Sighing, Elizabeth directed him to the kitchen table, and placed a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice in front of him.

"That will teach you to talk badly about your suave and sophisticated older brother," Sam said, smirking.

Kristy rolled her eyes. "You just think that because you went out with Stacey McGill last weekend. It was one date. Trust me, I know Stacey. She's boy-crazy, but she's sensible. You're not going to get anywhere with her. You already tried the dating thing, remember?"

"You just watch Kristy. Stacey will be my girlfriend. It's only a matter of time," Sam said, confidently.

"Charlie has more girlfriends than you. He told me," said David Michael. He was eight, and always wanted to be included in whatever his older siblings were doing.

"Well Charlie is in college," Sam said, giving his brother a soft punch in the arm. "I'm still in high school, where there isn't much of a selection. I mean, you've seen Kristy, right?"

"You take that back Sam!" Kristy yelled, shoving him against the refrigerator. Emily Michelle giggled and threw a cheerio at them in support. Shannon the dog quickly ran from her spot underneath the table and ate it off the floor.

"Why don't you two sit down for a minute," Nannie said gently to Kristy and Sam. "Emily, we don't throw our food, remember?"

"Cherrios!" shouted Emily Michelle

"Settle down everyone," Elizabeth said. "The bus will be here in ten minutes, and I would like you all to eat a proper breakfast."

Kristy munched on an apple, and looked around the kitchen smiling. Her family was crazy and loud, but she loved them. And this wasn't even everyone! Her stepdad Watson was upstairs sleeping, and her oldest brother Charlie was away at college. She also had a stepsister and stepbrother who lived in Chicago with their mom. Her real dad, Patrick, lived in California with his new wife, Zoey. She didn't see them that often.

Looking at the clock Kristy realized that she only had a few minutes before the bus would come. She grabbed her backpack and headed out the door, Sam following close behind.

"Bye Mom!" Kristy shouted. "Don't forget that I have soccer practice after school. I'm taking the late bus home with Abby."

"I know sweetie, have a good day!" Elizabeth called out. "You too, Sam!"

Kristy and Sam walked down the long driveway, and to the corner where the bus came to pick them up and bring them to SHS.

"I can't wait until I get my driver's license," Sam muttered.

"You say that every morning," Kristy teased.

"You better watch it Kristy. If you're not nice to me you're never getting a ride to school."

"Like I care," Kristy said, punching him in the shoulder. She ran to the corner where Abby was standing with her twin sister, Anna.

"Good morning ladies," she said.

Abby stared at her. "You have way too much energy, Thomas. You do realize that the sun just came up like ten minutes ago?"

"Actually, it looks like you're the one who got up ten minutes ago," Kristy shot back, smiling.

"Close," said Anna grinning. "It was more like fifteen minutes ago."

Abby shot her a look. "I'm here, aren't I? Ready for the bus, ready for school, and ready for the rest of my life."

"That's the spirit!" shouted Kristy.

"I've been hanging out with you too long," Abby said, shaking her head.

"Here comes the bus," said Anna, picking up her backpack and violin case.

The girls climbed up to the stairs and collapsed themselves into seats near the middle. Sam headed towards the back and pretended like he didn't know them, just like every morning. Kristy and Abby talked about their classes and the soccer team while Anna read her history book. The bus soon arrived at school, and the girls separated, Kristy and Abby going to their homeroom, and Anna catching up with some of her friends and going to another.

Taking their seats next to each other, Kristy and Abby continued talking and laughing as was their habit. Sometimes it seemed like they had been having the same long conversation for months.

Out of the corner of her eye, Kristy saw Mary Anne Spier raise her hand to them in a half hearted wave. Kristy gave her a tight smile but quickly turned back to Abby. She and Mary Anne had been best friends for the longest time, but after the Babysitter's Club broke up they hadn't remained close. Kristy tried not to let herself be that bothered by it; they really didn't have that much in common anyway. Mary Anne was obsessed with Cam Geary, loved watching girly movies, and hated sports. Babysitting was pretty much the only thing that they had in common any more, but they didn't even have that without the club.

But Kristy had Abby. And with her busy schedule, that was all she needed.

The bell soon rang, and the classroom quieted as they listened to the morning announcements. Soon enough homeroom was over, and Kristy and Abby headed to their algebra class.

"Ok everyone, settle down." said Ms. Harris, their teacher. The class paid her no attention, and continued talking amongst themselves. "I mean it," she said, her voice rising. "You need to pay attention!"

Kristy looked around the classroom and saw that the students weren't paying the least bit of attention to their teacher. This happened every morning. Ms. Harris was new to the school district, having just moved there from Illinois. Kristy kind of felt sorry for her; she wasn't very nice looking, and some of the more popular kids made fun of her for it. Needless to say, Ms. Harris had no control over the classroom.

Kristy's thoughts were interrupted by Abby who poked her in the side with a pencil.

"Ow! Abby, that hurt!"

"Sorry, but you need to help me out. I forgot to do my homework last night. Can I copy yours?"

Kristy gave her a confused look. "We started it right before you left last night. Why didn't you finish it when you got home?"

Abby shrugged her shoulders. "I was busy and I forgot about it. Can I see yours?" she asked impatiently.

Kristy sighed. As a general rule, she was opposed to cheating, even if it meant only copying a few problems. But this was Abby. She really didn't have a choice.

Abby started begging. "Please? Pretty please? Pretty please with a pizza toast on top?

Kristy grinned. "Here, take it. But you better do your homework tonight Abigail Stevenson. This is a one time thing."

"Yes ma'am," Abby said reaching for Kristy's notebook. She furiously began to scribble down the problems and answers while Ms. Harris attempted to gain control of the class.

Knowing that it would be a little longer before class actually started, Kristy pulled out her day planner and made sure that, unlike Abby, she had everything ready for the day. And she did, just like always.

After a few minutes Abby lifted her head up with a grin on her face.

"All done," she said.

"I'm so impressed by your diligent work," Kristy replied dryly.

"Thanks," Abby said.

"You owe me one," Kristy said, shaking her head.

"Yes I do. You're the best," Abby replied. She took both of their homework sheets and walked upfront to turn them in.

The class finally settled down, and Kristy started taking notes from the examples on the board. Looking to her right, she caught Abby's eye. They smiled.


	2. Chapter 2

"Come on, the bus will be in here any minute!"

Kristy stood with her arms across her chest, impatiently waiting for Abby to gather up what she needed from her locker. They had just finished soccer practice.

"Chill out Kristy, we'll make it. And if not, we'll walk home or something," Abby said, shrugging her shoulders.

"I don't understand how I am friends with someone so laid back," Kristy remarked, smiling.

Abby finished up at her locker, and picked up her backpack. "It must be my irresistible charm. Now come on Kristy, I thought you were worried about missing the bus."

Suddenly, Abby took off running down the hall, and Kristy followed her laughing. They arrived outside just as the bus was pulling into the school parking lot.

Abby grinned and Kristy "I told you we would make it."

The girls climbed up the stairs of the bus, and settled down for the ride home. Kristy tried to get Abby to work on the discussion questions that they needed to do for their English class, but she was more concerned about talking about soccer, and the other girls on the team. It wasn't that big of a deal though, because they normally did their homework together at night anyways.

As the bus pulled onto McLelland Court, Kristy and Abby gathered up their things.

"Are you coming over for dinner?" Kristy asked. "I think that Watson is grilling tonight. It should be good."

Abby shrugged her shoulders "I think that my mom is going to be home for dinner tonight. I kind of want to spend time with her Anna."

The bus pulled to the side of the road, and the girls remained on the sidewalk talking. Across the street, Bill and Melody Korman were playing with Hannie and Linnie Papadakis. They waved to Kristy and Abby.

Kristy reached out to Abby and gave her a quick one handed hug. "Is your mom still spending a lot of time in the city? More than usual?"

Abby looked down at the ground. "Yeah. She's even thinking about getting an apartment there. I think she just wants to spend more time with that James guy."

"Do you really think that she has a thing for her assistant?" Kristy asked, wrinkling her nose. "I mean, he's so much younger than she is."

"I don't know," Abby said glumly.

"Well you're always welcome at our house. You can come over for dinner if your mom decides to stay in the city. Anna too," Kristy said.

"Thanks, we might. I'll call you later so we can meet up to do homework," Abby said, turning around and walking in the direction of her house.

"Okay. Bye!"

"Bye."

Kristy walked up the driveway to her house and let herself in the side door. Walking inside she was greeted by Emily Michelle, who was coloring in the living room while Nannie straightened up the living room, dust rag in her hand.

"Hi sweetie, how was school and practice?" Nannie asked.

"Kristy!" squealed Emily Michelle, clapping her hands.

"It went well," Kristy said, stopping to admire Emily's picture. She turned again to Nannie. "How was your day?"

"It was busy." Nannie said, picking up some toys that were strewn about the floor. "This house certainly doesn't clean itself. You better get upstairs and put all your things away, dinner will be ready soon."

"Okay, I'll be down in a little while," Kristy said over her shoulder as she began to walk up the stairs.

In her room, Kristy set down her backpacks and sat down at her desk. She didn't plan to start working on her homework right away, but she wanted to figure out everything that she had to do for the night. She thrived on organization.

Sitting at her desk, she looked at a picture that she had propped up against her desk lamp. It was a picture of everyone in the Babysitter's Club before they had broken up. Kristy smiled when she looked at it. Eighth grade had really been a great year. She missed the club a lot, more than she would admit anyway. Things certainly weren't the same without it.

Kristy heard a knock at her door.

"Come in," she said.

"Dinner's ready," said Elizabeth, opening the door and stepping into the room.

"Ok, thanks."

Kristy stood up from her desk and walked to the door. Her mom had waited for her, and put her arm around her as they walked downstairs together.

Kristy smiled when they reached the kitchen. It was chaos, as usual, but that was what she loved. She sat down next to and David Michael, and waited for dinner to be served.

Watson walked up to the table with a plate of chicken that he had made on the grill, "Is anyone in here hungry?" he asked, smiling, while Nannie was setting down a bowl of rice, and some vegetables.

"I am!" said David Michael

"That's my boy!" Watson said, giving him a pat on the back.

As soon as everyone was seated, they began to pass the dishes around so that everyone could take what they wanted.

"Don't take more than you can eat," warned Elizabeth, who was watching David Michael heap rice on to his plate.

"I want as much as Sam," David Michael explained.

Watson took a sip from his glass and looked over at his wife. "He's a growing boy Elizabeth, let him be."

Sam gave David Michael a grin. "You can try to be as cool as me, but it's not going to work."

Kristy snickered. "I think he's cooler than you already."

"Oh yeah Kristy? Then I bet you didn't know that Stacey is going to go on another date with me this weekend," Sam shot back.

"It's not going to last," Kristy sang back

Sam shot her a mean look, but before he could say anything, Elizabeth stopped him.

"Would it be possible for us to have a family meal without fighting?" she asked. "Just once?"

"I no like fighting Mommy," Emily Michelle said, shaking her head from side to side.

"You are a good girl sweetie," Elizabeth said, smiling. She looked at the rest of her children "Maybe we could all learn something from Emily Michelle."

Kristy and Sam smiled sheepishly at each other, and the meal continued with everyone talking about what had gone on that day, and anything else that was on their mind. Watson seemed more spirited than usual, teasing all of the kids, and causing a lot of laughter.

Soon enough dinner was over, and the kids, along with Watson and Elizabeth scattered, leaving Nannie to clean up the kitchen. Once upstairs, Kristy went to the phone in the hallway to call Abby and figure out where they wanted to do their homework. She had been trying to get permission from her mom and Watson for a phone in her room, or a cell phone, since the school year had started, but so far she had not gotten through to them. She was still working on them though.

Kristy leaned against the wall and waited for someone to answer the phone. After three rings someone answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Abby? It's Kristy."

"Hey! I was just about to call you. Are you ready for some serious homework fun?" Abby asked.

Kristy grinned. "I'm always ready. How did dinner go with your mom?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Actually, she decided to stay in New York for the night. Anna and I made pizza for dinner."

"Oh. I'm sorry about that. Why don't you come over here and do homework then? Tell Anna that she can come if she wants."

"I think that she is going to Shannon's house tonight. But I'll be over in a few minutes," Abby said.

"Great!" Kristy responded. "Just come right up to my room."

"Okay," said Abby. "Bye."

"Bye."

Kristy hung up the phone and was about to go back to her room. Before she left the hallway, she heard the muffled voices of two people arguing. She followed them to the end of the hallway, right outside her parent's bedroom. She held her ear to the door for a few minutes, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. She was still there when Abby came running up the steps.

"What are you doing?" she asked, puzzled.

Kristy held her finger to her lips, and led Abby into her bedroom, closing the door behind them.

"Mom and Watson are fighting in their room. I was trying to listen, but I couldn't figure out what they were saying," she explained.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Abby comforted "Parents fight all the time."

Kristy sat down on her bed and wrung her hands nervously. "I know. Maybe this is dumb, but I always get worried when Mom and Watson fight. It reminds me of when I was little, and Mom would fight with my real dad. The fighting kept getting worse and worse, and eventually he left. I hate fighting."

"Nothing like that is going to happen to your mom and Watson," Abby assured. "They're better than that. Come one, let's start our homework. You need to focus on studying and forget all about it."

Kristy stood up from her bed and moved to her desk, taking everything that she needed to work on out of her backpack.

"You're right," she said decidedly.

"I always am," Abby said smiling.

Kristy smiled back, and the two of them worked together for the next couple of hours. Just as Abby had predicted, Kristy soon forgot about the fight between her mom and Watson.


	3. Chapter 3

"Leave me alone Elizabeth!"

Kristy woke up from a deep sleep to hear her parents fighting again. She groggily sat up in her bed and strained her ears to try and hear what else they were saying. This was not easy in her half-awakened state.

"I'm sorry Watson, but I don't think this is good for you, especially after your heart attack. Quiet now, you're going to wake the children," Elizabeth hushed.

"This is my damn house, and I can be as loud as I want. You coddle those children anyway," Watson shot back.

"Listen to yourself!" Elizabeth hissed "Those are not the words of the man that I married. I don't even know who you are anymore!"

Listening to this, Kristy, the girl who never cried, felt her eyes start to well up slightly with tears. She quickly wiped these away on the back of her sleeve. She didn't even know what to think. She knew now that she shouldn't have let Abby dismiss their earlier argument so easily.

"If that's how you feel, I'm leaving!" Watson shouted. Kristy heard him open and then slam shut their bedroom door before he made his way down the hallway. The light from the hallway cast an angry shadow as he stormed by Kristy's room.

Shortly thereafter, Kristy heard the door the slam down downstairs, and the garage door open in the distance. The hallway light was shut off, and the second floor of the house descended into silence.

Kristy lay back down on her bed, pulled the blanket tightly up to her chin. She wasn't sure what scared her more; the fighting that she had just overheard, or the silence that existed in its absence.

A part of her really wanted to go and attempt to comfort her mom. After all, her mom had always been there when she had needed her. And Kristy really did want to be able to do the same. But though she didn't know the specifics of the situation, she had an inkling that it was bigger than herself and any comforting that she would be able to do.

Though she fought to turn all of this over in her mind, and to try to find some way to solve it, Kristy eventually succumbed to sleep without even realizing it. Her last thought before going to bed was a silent wish that this was only a bad dream.

-----------------------------------------------------

Kristy awoke for school the next morning, and proceeded to go about her normal routine of getting ready the day. It wasn't until she was in the middle of brushing her teeth that she remembered the events of the previous night; both the argument that she had heard behind closed doors, and the shouting that had awoken her.

Not wanting to go downstairs and deal with fallout from the night before, Kristy dawdled in her room under the pretense of doing some last minute homework. She was sitting at her desk, staring a page in her notebook when she heard a knock at her door.

"You can come in," Kristy said.

Nannie opened the door. She was already dressed and ready for the day, holding a basket of laundry against her hip.

"You're running late today, Kristy, that's not like you," she said.

Kristy shrugged her shoulders and sighed. "I know. I'll be downstairs in a minute."

Nannie gave her a stern look. "Make sure that you eat a good breakfast before school today; you have dark circles under your eyes. Not that they make you look and less beautiful."

Kristy blushed. "I will."

Nannie gave her a smile and left the room, leaving the door open a crack. As she walked by Sam's room Kristy heard her give him a lecture about getting up on time in the morning. This made Kristy smile. At least some things would never change.

Sighing, Kristy picked up her backpack and headed downstairs. The door to her mom and Watson's bedroom was open, and the bed was neatly made. She wondered if Watson had even come back to the house last night. She wondered if he was ever coming back.

Kristy walked downstairs and into the kitchen, stepping around David Michael, who was teasing a squealing Emily Michelle in some version of keep away. She opened the refrigerator door, looked inside, and chose instead to grab an apple from the basket on the counter. She sat down at the far end of the kitchen table, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the chaos that was business as usual in the Thomas-Brewer household.

Elizabeth came over from the counter where she was bent over some sort of paperwork. She kissed the top of Kristy's head.

"Good morning sweetheart," she said.

"Morning mom."

"What do you have going on today?" Elizabeth asked.

Kristy shrugged. "School. And soccer practice." She paused. "Where's Watson?"

Elizabeth gave a quick smile, her chin wavering almost imperceptibly. "He had a meeting at the office today, and he went in early to prepare for it."

Kristy forced a smile. "Oh," she said.

"Well you better finish up your breakfast; the bus will be here in a few minutes. I need to make sure that David Michael is ready for school. Have a great day honey," Elizabeth said warmly, hurrying out of the room.

Kristy munched thoughtfully on her apple and wondered how much of what her mom and just told her had been true or not. For all she knew, Watson had come back home shortly after she had fallen asleep again, and really had left early to prepare for a meeting at work. Really, it was possible that her parents had made up and the whole argument was over at this point.

It was possible, but not likely.

Kristy looked at the clock that hung over the oven, and saw that it was time to go outside and meet the bus. At this point, Sam strode through the kitchen with his backpack slung over one shoulder.

"Come on Krusty, or the bus will leave without you," he said.

Kristy glared at him. "Don't call me that."

Sam smirked "I'll call you whatever I want, Krusty."

Kristy picked up her backpack and swung it against Sam as they were walking out the door, causing him to lose his balance. This made her feel a little bit better. In the distance, she saw the bus pulling to a stop at the corner, and both she and Sam broke into a sprint, each of them reaching the corner just as the bus driver was about to close the doors and pull away.

Panting, Kristy settled herself down in her usual seat right by Abby and Anna.

"That was close," she said.

Abby smirked. "No kidding. I never thought I would see the day where Kristy Thomas would miss the bus."

"And you never will," Kristy retorted.

"Watch the 'tude, Thomas," Abby shot back.

Kristy smiled. Just being with her friends and joking around made her feel a little bit better about everything that was going on. She could almost pretend that everything was ok. Almost.

The girls talked and joked all the way too school. Kristy participated as usual, but she wasn't as involved in the conversation as she normally was. Neither Abby nor Anna picked up on this, or if they did, they didn't comment on it, which sort of disappointed Kristy. She didn't say anything though. Abby wasn't exactly the type of friend who would dry your tears. She was more the type to make you laugh and forget about your problem, which Kristy often appreciated.

But sometimes you had to cry.

The morning seemed to drag on forever. Kristy found herself unable to concentrate in class, her mind drifting instead to what was going on at home. Instead of going to lunch with Abby and the other girls on the soccer team, Kristy feigned homework and spent the period in the library, in a secluded spot in the almanac section. She was reading _The Grapes of Wrath_ for her literature class, and had just read the same paragraph three times in a row when she heard someone call her name.

"Kristy?"

Kristy looked up from her book, startled, to find Mary Anne looking at her. Just from a quick glance, Kristy couldn't figure out how they had ever been friends. Mary Anne had her hair in loose pigtails, and was wearing a pale pink sweater with fitted jeans. This was practically the exact opposite of Kristy's uniform of a sloppy ponytail, baggy sweatshirt, and whatever jeans that were clean.

"Hey," Kristy responded, smiling weakly. "What are you doing here?"

Mary Anne shrugged. "I don't really have anyone to sit with. Logan broke up with me. Did you know that?"

Kristy nodded, one side of her mouth pulled down sympathetically. "I heard that. I'm sorry."

"Thanks."

Kristy and Mary Anne sat together in the room for a few more minutes, neither of them really knowing what to say to each other. Mary Anne finally broke the silence, concern heavy in her voice.

"Is everything okay Kristy? You don't seem like yourself."

What should have touched Kristy angered her instead. She had hoped that Abby would have been the one to make this comment today- they were supposed to be best friends. Instead it was Mary Anne who noticed it. As far as Kristy was concerned, these two had a history, but no real future aside from being casual acquaintances. She wasn't about to pour her soul out and change that.

"I'm fine," Kristy said defensively. She stood up and began to gather her things, making a conscious effort to not look Mary Anne in the eye.

Mary Anne backed away from Kristy and cast her eyes down to the floor. "I'm sorry I asked anything," she said, her voice thin and meek.

For a moment, Kristy felt bad. After all, there was nothing really wrong with Mary Anne, it was just that they didn't have anything in common anymore.

"Don't worry about it," she said, with something like kindness in her voice. She gave Mary Anne a weak smile.

Mary Anne returned the smile while Kristy brushed past her and entered the hallway, just as the bell was ringing. Kristy allowed herself to become lost in the sea of students that filled this space. Lost in the crowd she didn't have to think about anything. She didn't have to think about the fact that Abby probably wasn't going to be there for her when she needed it, this time or in the future. She didn't have to think about the fact that her parents were fighting, and it wasn't a small fight but something more than she could even comprehend. And she didn't have to think about the other things that she kept buried deep inside of herself, thoughts that came on so strong when she felt lonely and scared, like she felt right now.

Her mom and Watson had had fights before. Nothing major, they were mainly arguments like any married couple had. Kristy knew this. But irregardless, each time panicked her in a way that she could hardly describe. It brought her back to her childhood, and the screaming fights between her mother and father that eventually led to a failed marriage and a father who was nothing but a figment of her imagination.

Kristy ducked into the girls bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face. It was going to be a long afternoon.


	4. Chapter 4

Kristy waved goodbye to Abby as they walked off the school bus together, and went in opposite directions. She walked up the driveway and into the house, where she was greeted by Shannon the dog. Petting her, she walked into the kitchen, where she was greeted by her mom.

"Hi Sweetie, how was your day?" Elizabeth asked. She was sitting at the kitchen table absently looking through an issue of _Birdbaths Monthly_. Kristy couldn't help but notice how tired she looked.

"It was okay," Kristy responded. "Is Watson home yet?"

Elizabeth frowned. "He's working late today. He might end up staying over at the office, actually. Why?"

Kristy shrugged. "I was just wondering," she said, trying to mask the confusion she felt.

"I'm going to go upstairs and work on homework. Let me know when dinner is ready,"

"Of course I will," Elizabeth said.

Kristy walked out of the kitchen without saying anything else, and trudged up the stairs to her bedroom.

Once inside her room, where she could be alone with her thoughts, Kristy shut the door and lay down her on her bed. She wondered what was really going on with her mom and Watson. She wanted to believe that he has just working late, but she could hardly imagine that it was true. After his heart attack, Watson had drastically cut down his hours at work to putting himself in that position again. He hadn't really stayed late at work since, and for good reason.

Unless avoiding her mom and the rest of the family was a good enough reason to put himself at risk again. Maybe he was never coming back.

Kristy had barely been seven when her real father had walked out on their family, but she remembered it like it was yesterday. That was a day that would remain with her forever. And even though Patrick was back in her life, to a point, it didn't change the past, and nothing could erase the years that she and her brothers had lived without a father.

The fact that he was back didn't necessarily make him a father either. That was Watson's job now. Though they had never really talked about it officially, she and her brothers had reached a mutual consensus on this topic.

Unless of course, Watson was tired of being their father. That happened sometimes.

Kristy sat at her desk and picked up the softball and mitt that were on the floor beside her. She tossed the ball into the mitt, repeatedly, creating a rhythm that she forced herself to concentrate on lest she think of anything else. Back and forth, back and forth. She repeated this motion for the next twenty minutes, when she realized how tired she was. Setting down the softball and mitt on her desk, she lay down on her bed, and fell into an uneasy sleep.

She awoke about an hour later to the sound of someone pounding at her door.

"Kristy, come on!" called David Michael "It's dinner time."

Kristy rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock on the stand next to her bed. It was already after six. Too bad she wasn't the least bit hungry.

"Kristy! You need to come down now!" David Michael shouted from the hallway.

"I'm coming!" Kristy shouted back, rubbing her eyes.

She rose up from the bed and quickly looked at her reflection on the mirror that hung above her dresser. Her hair had fallen out of its ponytail, so she tried to straighten it out the best that she could. It didn't really help that much, but why should she care? It was only her family, and besides, she looked how she felt.

Opening the door, Kristy walked through the hallway and downstairs into the kitchen. She had one step to go when something made her stop dead in her tracks.

Stacey McGill was seated at the kitchen table next to Sam, laughing and passing the salad bowl to Nannie.

Recovering, Kristy made it the rest of the way to the table and took her seat. It's not that she didn't like Stacey; of course she did, they had been business partners together. It's just that, well, she was kind of intimidating.

The girl was drop dead gorgeous and a math genius. This had never really bothered Kristy while they were working together in The Babysitter's Club, but now that they didn't spend much time together, she couldn't help but feel a little awkward around Stacey.

"Thanks for coming to dinner Kristy." Sam said, smirking. "I don't suppose you noticed that Stacey is here as well."

"I did, but thanks so much for pointing it out to me," Kristy said dryly. She turned to Stacey. "How are things going with you?"

Stacey smiled. "Really good. I joined the math team, and we have our first competition coming up in a few weeks."

Sam gave her a sideways glance. "The _math_ team? That's for losers. You're not a loser, are you Stacey?"

Stacey smiled shyly. "No. You don't think I'm a loser, do you?" she asked, worried.

Sam grinned. "You won't be if you spend enough time with me. And if you avoid Kristy."

"Kristy's a loser!" David Michael affirmed cheerfully.

Kristy shot Sam a look. "Seriously Sam, you need to get a life."

"That wasn't very nice Sam!" Stacey admonished. Kristy gave her a grateful smile.

"Could we all quiet down please?" Elizabeth said, smiling, but with enough sternness in her voice so that all of the kids took notice. "You can all rest assured that no one at this table is a loser."

Laughter broke out around the table, and everyone finished up passing the dishes around and taking what they wanted.

Nannie and Elizabeth started a conversation with David Michael and Emily Michelle about the activities that they had planned for the upcoming weekend. Sam was trying to make the younger kids laugh by making faces behind Nannie's back.

Kristy turned to Stacey, and attempted to resurrect their earlier conversation. "Are you doing anything else, besides the Math team?"

Stacey shrugged. "Sam wants me to join the cheerleading squad. Fall tryouts were forever ago, but I could make the winter team. Claudia might try out with me."

"I guess that could be fun," Kristy said politely. She hated cheerleading.

"What have you been doing?" Stacey asked.

"I've been really busy with soccer. And I still baby-sit occasionally, mostly for the Perkins' girls and kids around the neighborhood. With that and school I'm really busy."

Stacey nodded sympathetically. "High school is way harder than I thought it would be."

Sam then rejoined the conversation. "You spend too much time studying Stacey. You need to spend more time with me."

Stacey gave him a smile. "Maybe we could study together sometime."

Kristy nodded her head in agreement. "You could. Isn't Stacey a year ahead of you in math, Sam? She could tutor you."

"You can stop talking now Kristin," Sam mumbled.

Kristy glared at him, while Stacey caught her eye and laughed. Kristy had to admit that Stacey was one of the better girls that Sam had dated. She could be a little boy crazy at times, but for the most part she was sensible.

Dinner continued with much conversation and laughter. When everyone was done eating, Nannie quickly got up to clear the table, and came back with dessert. She had baked chocolate chip cookies earlier that day.

Seeing this, Emily Michelle and David Michael's eyes both grew big. The dish was passed around the table, with Sam taking three cookies, and Stacey discreetly not taking any. The room was quiet for a few moments, until Emily Michelle broke the silence.

"Where's Daddy?" she asked.

Elizabeth and Nannie shot worried looks at each other, but Elizabeth's voice was calm as she responded.

"He's working Emily. He will be home to play with you tomorrow."

"Good. I miss Daddy," Emily said, taking a bite of her cookie.

"He misses you too, Sweetie," Nannie said.

"You'll have to tell Watson I said hi," Stacey said to Sam and Kristy. "It's been awhile since I've seen him."

"Sure," Kristy said, without much enthusiasm. This wasn't a topic that she was exactly comfortable with at the moment.

"Maybe you should hang around here more often," Sam said slyly. "Then you can tell him yourself."

Stacey shrugged her shoulders and giggled. "Maybe."

Once everyone had just about finished their dessert, Nannie and Elizabeth rose to start clearing the table and clean up the kitchen. Kristy and Stacey helped out as well, with Sam entertaining David Michael and Emily Michelle by putting on a movie in the living room. After being told that guests weren't allowed to help in the kitchen, Stacey joined them as well.

Kristy was helping put the leftovers in Tupperware and then into the refrigerator when she saw headlights coming up the driveway, followed by the sound of the opening of the garage door. She couldn't help but notice the nervous looks exchanged between her mom and Nannie.

A few moments later, the door between the kitchen and the garage opened, and Watson stepped in. His clothes were disheveled, and he reeked of alcohol. Shannon the dog took one look at him and scampered underneath the table, her tail between her legs.

"Anybody home?" he called out.

Elizabeth quickly ran to him in an attempt to stop anything before it could start.

"What are you doing?" Elizabeth hissed. "You can't come in here like this. The children could see you!"

Kristy stood unable to move from her spot at the kitchen counter. Her hand held the lid of a container tightly, as if holding on as tight as she could somehow make her safe. As much as she wanted to avert her eyes, she remained transfixed on the scene unfolding before her.

Emily Michelle came running into the kitchen, her pigtails bouncing with each step.

"Daddy!" she squealed.

Watson pushed Elizabeth aside, and moved towards Emily Michelle. He could barely walk in a straight line, and stumbled into the kitchen table. This gave Nannie enough time to grab Emily Michelle and take her out of the room.

Holding onto the back of one of the chairs to keep himself steady, Watson's gaze traveled the room. He's eyes stopped when he noticed Kristy.


	5. Chapter 5

"What do you think you're looking at?" Watson hollered, his eyes focused on Kristy.

Frightened, Kristy willed herself to run out of the kitchen, to become invisible, or to somehow know what she could say back that would make everything right again. None of this happened.

"Well?" Watson shouted

Kristy opened her mouth and then closed it. She wasn't sure if she would even be able to produce a sound. Hearing the commotion, Sam came running into the room. In the corner of her eye, she could see Stacey in the hallway holding back David Michael.

"I-" Kristy stammered.

Kristy looked pleadingly over at her mom, who had backed into the wall, with tears streaming down her face. It didn't look like she was in any position to help herself; much less Kristy.

Sam then walked up to Watson, and stood firmly in his path.

"You can leave now," he said firmly.

Watson's eyes lit up with anger hearing this. "What the hell are you talking about?" he yelled angrily.

Watson tried to push past Sam and leave the kitchen, but his balance was very unsteady, and Sam stood firmly.

"You need to leave," Sam said again, this time more forcefully.

Watson took a step back and surveyed the mess that he had created. He then walked, stumbling, to the door.

"This is my damn house!" he shouted. "Remember that!"

He then slammed the door to the garage. A few seconds later, they heard the car start and back out of the garage, hitting the garbage cans on the first try. No one said a word until the BMW had turned out of the driveway and into the street.

David Michael finally broke free of Stacey's arms, and ran to Kristy, burying his head into the fold of her SHS sweatshirt. Somehow, he knew that he couldn't run to his mom right now. She put her arms around him, but found herself unable to say anything. She didn't know how to soothe him. Stacey entered the kitchen too, going straight to Sam. He had his arms around her, softly stroking her hair.

Elizabeth took a few steps out from her position against the well. She was still crying, but didn't seem to be acknowledging this at all. She looked at the pained faces of all the children.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice almost a whisper. "I'm so sorry."

With this, she fled from the room, and Kristy listened to the soft footsteps that went up the stairs and to the room that she shared with Watson, which were intermingled with sobs. The sound was heartbreaking

Nannie entered the kitchen holding Emily Michelle. Emily was sucking her thumb, and was resting her head against Nannie's shoulders. Her eyes were red from crying. Stopping to momentarily rub Kristy's shoulder, Nannie reached out and took David Michael's hand, leading him upstairs.

As soon as David Michael was out of the room, and she didn't have to pretend to be brave for anyone, Kristy slid down to the floor. Her back against the counter, she hugged her knees to her chest tightly. She started to quietly cry.

Finally, someone broke the silence.

"What the hell was that?" Sam asked angrily.

"I heard them fighting last night," Kristy said softly. "They woke me up. Watson ended up leaving. I think that something is really wrong."

"Something better be wrong. He had no right to come here and act like that. David Michael and Emily Michelle must be scared out of there minds. And mom practically fell apart. She doesn't deserve this."

Stacey walked over to where Kristy was sitting and offered her hand. Kristy took it and stood up. They both walked over to Sam.

Sam looked over at his sister, and lightly punched her arm. "Don't worry Kristy. I'm going to call Charlie. He'll know what to do."

"Okay," Kristy said. She wasn't an adult. She wasn't going to even pretend that she had any idea of what to do.

"Come on Stacey, let's go up to my room," Sam said. He turned to Kristy. "Can you clean everything up?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Thanks," Sam said, leading Stacey upstairs.

Kristy set about her task of straightening up the kitchen. It felt good to have a purpose. She didn't quite know what she would do when she was done with this.

She finished putting away the leftovers from dinner, and straightened out the furniture that Watson had pushed around. Cleaning up the mess made her feel just the tiniest bit better about the situation, though this disturbed her as well. Anyone who walked in wouldn't have the slightest idea of what had just happened. The Thomas-Brewer's would be seen as just another happy family.

Maybe there was no such thing as a happy family.

As Kristy was wiping of the table, Nannie walked into the kitchen, surveying her work.

"You didn't have to clean up," she remarked.

"I know," Kristy responded, looking down at the table that she was cleaning instead of at Nannie.

Nannie came over and took the rag out of Kristy's hand, setting it on the table. "You shouldn't have had to see that, Kristy."

"It's not a big deal," Kristy mumbled.

"It is a big deal," Nannie said firmly. "Watson is having some problems right now, but I don't want you to worry about it. He is going to work them out. And your mom is behind him completely, and will help him in anyway that she can. This is going to get better. Things are going to be okay again.

"I hope so," Kristy said softly.

Nannie reached over and pulled Kristy in for a hug. "This is nothing for you to worry about. You need to focus on schoolwork and your sports. Got it?"

Kristy nodded her head slightly. "Yeah."

"Good," Nannie said. "David Michael and Emily Michelle went to bed early tonight, and I think that you should as well. I'll finish cleaning up in here."

Kristy took a step back from the table and headed upstairs. She stopped at the bottom of the staircase.

"Thanks Nannie."

"I love you," Nannie said. "And so do your mom and Watson."

"I love you too," Kristy said before she turned again to walk upstairs to her room.

As she reached the upstairs hallway, a feeling of overwhelming loneliness hit her. There were eight bedrooms on the second floor of this large house, and the doors to five of them were closed. The pen doors and rooms belonged to Charlie, Karen, and Andrew, and were more like empty testaments to the people who sometimes occupied them. Her house used to be so bursting with people that loneliness hadn't even been an option.

Kristy stopped outside the door to the closed door to her mom and Watson's room. She put her ear close to the door, but was unable to hear anything inside.

She knocked on the door.

"Mom? Are you okay?" she asked.

Kristy waited a few moments, but no response came from the room. Not knowing what else she could or should do, she lingered in the hallway for a few minutes, just thinking. She truly hated the idea that she didn't have any clue as to what to do next. She used to have so many great ideas.

In efforts to try to make the night good for something, Kristy headed to her room and started to work on her homework. Though her mind wandered frequently, she did get some of it done, which made her feel a little bit better. She was about to start working on her Spanish homework when Sam opened her door. Stacey must have gone home.

"Do you ever knock?" Kristy asked.

"Where would the fun be in that?" Sam responded. He took a more serious tone. "I just called Charlie."

"What did he say?" Kristy asked impatiently. All of her life Charlie had been a great older brother. He always knew what to do.

"He was as shocked as I was. Well, not really. He said that he's always suspected that Watson wasn't as great as everyone thought he was."

"But what are we supposed to do?" Kristy asked.

Sam shrugged. "Charlie said that he would come home this weekend. I figured that we would wait until then to do anything. I don't really think that there is much that we can do."

Kristy frowned. "I guess your right."

Sam grinned. "Of course I'm right. I'm your older brother."

"We'll have a meeting this weekend. Both of us and Charlie. Then we'll figure things out," Kristy declared. Being organized always made her feel more at ease.

"That sounds good," Sam said. "Good night Krusty."

Kristy threw a pillow at Sam, hitting him flat on the back. "Good night Slime."

Sam picked the pillow off the floor, and threw it into Kristy's shoulder, smirking as he walked out the door.

Kristy sat on the edge of the bed and smiled to herself. It felt good to have something to look forward to, despite everything that was on her mind.

When Patrick had left their mom, Charlie had been the one to take charge of everything. After all, he was the oldest, and some one had to run the house while mom was at work. And he had done a great job, despite that fact that he had barely been anything but a kid himself. Kristy knew that they would be able to count on him again. That's just the kind of brother that he was. Despite everything, her family wasn't so bad. At least she could depend on her siblings.

She busied herself with changing into her pajamas, packing her backpack for tomorrow, and getting ready for bed. So what if it was only nine o'clock? It had certainly been a long enough day.

Kristy pulled back the covers, and settled herself in bed. She wasn't by any means sure of anything that had happened in the past few days, but they had a plan. And with that came hope.


	6. Chapter 6

Kristy stared impatiently at the clock, tapping her pencil against her textbook. It was 2:45 on Friday afternoon- fifteen more minutes until school would be over for the week. Charlie was coming home from school for the weekend, and she literally could not wait to see him. Words could not express how grateful she was that the soccer team didn't practice on Friday afternoons.

Charlie went to Boiceville State. Even though it was only about forty-five minutes away from Stoneybrook, he lived on campus in the dorms. He said it was part of the college experience, and Kristy really tried to be happy for him, but it was hard, especially in times like these. She needed her big brother more than she had in a long time. She knew in her heart that he would be able to fix these things. He always did.

Kristy looked up at the clock again, but only three minutes had passed. Study hall was really the most useless class period. Normally she used this time to get a jump start on her homework, but there was no way that she would be able to concentrate today. Across the room, she saw Claudia absently doodling in her notebook. Maybe she couldn't concentrate either. Or maybe high schol had been unable to motivate her in the same way that middle school hadn't been able to. At this point, it seemed very unlikely that Claudia would even be a scholar.

Eight minutes left. Kristy put her head down and reflected. Even if she didn't need Charlie's input on everything that was going on at home, she really needed to see him. He had only been home once since going off to college, and that weekend went so fast that she hardly even counted it. This was the longest amount of time that they had spent apart in her whole life. She wasn't embarrassed to admit that she missed him. When they were growing up, she, along with Sam and Charlie, had been a team, all of them working together to take care of David Michael and help out their mom in anyway she needed. When Watson had come into their lives, they hadn't needed this as much anymore. Or at least that's what they had thought.

Lost in her thoughts, the bell rang. Kristy quickly packed up her things, and made her way to her locker. Pulling out the books that she would need for the weekend, she closed the door and turned around, almost knocking over Abby.

"Watch it, Thomas!" Abby shouted, laughing. "Don't tell me you're that excited to get out of here."

Kristy gave her an impatient look. "Abby, I told you this morning. Charlie is coming home for the weekend."

Abby gave her a blank stare. "So…? I thought that we were going to hang out. We always hang out on Friday nights."

Kristy shrugged. "Maybe. I really need to talk to Charlie first. Him and Sam. It's really important."

Abby gave her a confused look. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing," Kristy replied, brushing her off. She could understand why Abby was confused. She had shut her out in respect to everything that had happened in the last few days. She wasn't quite sure why.

"Okay then, whatever. We better get going, or we'll miss the bus," Abby said.

Kristy shook her head. "Nannie is picking up Sam and I today. We want to get home right away."

The two girls stood in the hallway, not saying anything to each other. Kristy could tell that Abby was waiting Kristy to offer her a ride home.

"I guess I'll see you later. Tonight maybe," Kristy offered.

"Yeah, I guess." Abby said.

Abby and Kristy each gave the other a half smile, then took off in separate directions down the hallway.

As she opened the door and ran down the steps of SHS, Kristy immediately saw Nannie in the Pink Clinker. Emily Michelle was in the car with her, waving and smiling. Kristy got to the car and slid herself into the backseat.

"Thanks for picking us up today Nannie. Where's Sam?" Kristy asked.

"You ran right past him," Nannie remarked, smiling.

Kristy quickly turned her head back towards the school. At the bottom of the steps, Sam and Stacey were standing together talking.

Kristy rolled her eyes. It's not like she had a problem with Sam and Stacey, but seriously, he knew that they had to get home right away. Kristy leaned over the front seat, and honked the horn, making Emily Michelle giggle.

"That wasn't necessary Kristy," Nannie admonished. "They were having a moment. Young love is a beautiful thing."

Kristy blushed, and rolled her eyes. Young love was basically the last thing on her mind these days. Or any day, really.

"We need to get _home._" Kristy said impatiently. "I need to talk to Charlie."

"Charlie's home!" Emily Michelle yelled, excited at the idea of seeing her big brother.

Kristy leaned out the car window.

"Come on Sam!" she yelled.

Sam tuned away from Stacey to look in their direction, and then gave Stacey a quick kiss good-bye. He looked at his watch, and jogged over to the car.

"Impatient much?" he asked Kristy as he put on his seatbelt.

Kristy gave him a look. "We need to get home. You know that."

"Ten minutes isn't going to change anything," Sam muttered.

"It could," Kristy shot back.

"Sam and Kristy are fighting," Emily Michelle observed.

"I know. And I think that they should stop it _right now._" Nannie said.

"Me too," Emily agreed.

Kristy and Sam grinned sheepishly and spent the rest of the ride home in silence. Kristy stared out the car window and looked at all the houses they passed. She wondered if they all had some kind of secret inside of them that couldn't be seen when looking at the freshly painted shutters and manicured lawns. Maybe you had to be part of a family to know what really went on. And maybe sometimes you could never know everything, even then.

As soon as they pulled into the driveway, Kristy saw the Junk Bucket, and her mouth stretched into a smile. Charlie was really here. She ran into the house, dropping her backpack on the floor in the hallway, and not stopping until she reached the living room where Charlie was watching television. David Michael was practically sitting on top of him.

"Charlie! You're here!" Kristy shouted.

"That I am," he replied, smiling. "It's good to see you Kristy."

"You too," Kristy said, grinning from ear to ear.

Sam walked into the room. "Hey Charlie."

"Hey," Charlie replied back.

Kristy looked at both of them. "Ok, I guess we're ready then. Why don't we go upstairs to my room," she proposed.

"Do you mind if we wait a little while?" Charlie asked. "We're in the middle of a movie."

Kristy looked him in the eye. "This is really important Charlie."

Charlie sighed. "Fine." He turned to David Michael. "We'll finish this later buddy."

Charlie, Sam, and Kristy all walked up to Kristy's room. Kristy shut the door and waited for someone to say something. No one did.

Finally, Charlie broke the silence.

"Now what's going on?" he asked, putting his hands in the pocket of his Boiceville State sweatshirt.

Sam shrugged. "Nothing's really changed since what I told you on the phone on Wednesday night. Watson hasn't been home since then."

"Has Mom talked to him? Or has anyone?" Charlie asked.

"Not that I know of," Kristy said. "Mom has basically been pretending that nothing ever happened. It's weird."

"Well maybe then it was a one time thing," Charlie proposed. "Otherwise, I'm sure that mom would be more concerned about it."

Kristy shook her head. "This is serious. They were fighting before this even happened. I heard them. I think that this has been going on for awhile."

"She's right," Sam affirmed. "You didn't see it. I think that Watson has a serious problem. I just don't know what we can do about it. I don't think that mom knows either."

"Mom's been through this before. She can handle it. And you guys can help her if she needs it," Charlie offered.

"Maybe we should all talk to mom about this together," Kristy suggested.

"That's a great idea Kristy," Sam said. "Mom's working late tonight, but we could all talk to her sometime tomorrow. She'll have to listen if we all come to her together." He turned to look at Charlie. "What do you think?"

"If we can talk to her right away in the morning it would work," Charlie said. "I'm going back to school in the afternoon."

Kristy's face registered surprise. "You're not even staying the whole weekend?" she asked.

Charlie gave her a withering look. "There's a party on campus tomorrow night. I'm not going to miss it."

"Why help your family, when you could go to a party?" Kristy muttered.

"Oh come on Kristy," Charlie shot back. "It's not like I haven't been there, done that. It's time for the two of you to step up. I don't even live here anymore."

"Come on Charlie, you're being a little harsh. You're still a part of this family," Sam countered.

"I'm a part of it. I don't run it," Charlie said. He then turned around and walked out of the room. The air was heavy with his departure.

Sam looked at Kristy helplessly.

"Charlie, wait," he called, running out of the room.

Kristy sat down on her bed. The room seemed smaller somehow, without her brothers in it.

She didn't even know what to think now. She couldn't remember a time when she hadn't been able to count on Charlie. Family had always come first to her, and to Charlie as well. She hadn't imagined in anyway that his going to college would somehow change that.

If Charlie couldn't be counted on to make things better, she was going to have to do it herself. She just had absolutely no idea how.


	7. Chapter 7

Beep, beep, beep.

The sound of her alarm clock woke Kristy out of a deep sleep Saturday morning. She rolled over and locked at the clock; it was 9:00am.

Stretching, Kristy yawned and forced herself to leave the safety and warmth of her bed. Passing the mirror, she rang her fingers though her hair and tried to smooth out the wrinkles in her pajamas before she left the room. She walked across the room and knocked on Charlie's door.

"Wake up Charlie!" She called out. She then took a few steps to the right, and did the same thing for Sam. She waited about thirty seconds, and then repeated the process. Her brothers generally needed a lot of prodding to get out of bed.

Sighing, Kristy folded her arms across her chest. She tapped her foot as she waited impatiently for her brothers to make some indication that they were up. She smirked to herself. Charlie had wanted to talk to mom in the morning, and that was what he was getting.

She decided to give them about thirty seconds longer, and if they still weren't up, she was going to get her whistle.

Frustrated, Kristy knocked loudly on both doors once more. This time, Charlie opened his door rubbing his eyes.

"What do you want Kristy? The sun's not even up!" He grumbled.

"No kidding," said Sam, opening his bedroom door. "What the hell is going on?"

Kristy folded her arms across her chest. "We're going to talk to mom. You promised," she said pointedly.

"It's barely even nine o'clock!" Charlie exclaimed.

"I know," Kristy replied. "But you have a party to go to tonight, so I figured that you would want to get this done as early as possible. I know you can't bear to be away from school and longer than you have to."

"Shut up Kristy, he can do what he wants." Sam said, jumping into the conversation.

"Whatever," Charlie said, dismissing both of them. "Is mom even up yet?" he asked.

"I guess we'll find out," Kristy said, turning around and walking towards the staircase. Her brothers followed her begrudgingly.

The siblings walked into the kitchen, where Nannie was sewing one of Emily Michelle's dresses, and making pancakes for breakfast.

"I didn't expect to see any of you for at least a couple hours yet," she remarked.

"This morning is full of surprises for everyone then," Charlie mumbled.

Nannie wiped her hands on her apron. "Can I make anyone pancakes? David Michael has already requested a stack."

"I'll have some," Sam said eagerly. So far, this was the most emotion that he had shown all morning.

"Actually, we need to talk to mom," Kristy said definitively "Is she up?"

Nannie bit the bottom of her lip. "I believe so, yes, but maybe you should wait until later. She didn't get in until awfully late last night."

"We don't have time to wait," Kristy remarked.

"Actually, we do," Charlie interjected. "We'll have breakfast first," he said as Kristy gave him a sharp glare.

"That sounds like a plan to me," Sam said, pulling up a chair at the table.

"Fine," Kristy said. This was the downside of having two older brothers. They frequently teamed up against her, and food always came first.

Kristy and Charlie joined Sam at the table, and began talking about the Stoneybrook High basketball team. Soon they were laughing and more at ease. Sports always did that to them.

After about ten pancakes between them and twenty minutes later, Kristy began to get impatient. She was about to say something when her mom stalked down the stairs and into the kitchen. At first glance she looked fine; she was wearing Watson's robe, and her hair was freshly brushed and shiny. Her eyes, though, were another story. Kristy couldn't remember ever seeing her mother look this tired.

"Good morning," Elizabeth said, smiling tightly. "It's nice to have you home Charlie."

"Thanks mom," Charlie said, grinning.

Elizabeth walked over to the stove where Nannie was standing. Nannie put her arms around her daughter, and rubbed her shoulder. Kristy didn't really want to interrupt the moment, but at the same time she needed to get this started. She had always had problems with demonstrating restraint.

"We need to talk to you mom," Kristy blurted out.

Elizabeth grimaced and closed her eyes, almost as if she was trying to make the situation go away.

"Right now?" she asked.

Charlie and Sam looked at her, and then each other and shrugged. Kristy had obviously become the voice of the group.

"Please mom. It's important," Kristy explained.

Elizabeth sighed. "Of course. Let me just get a cup of coffee."

"Thanks mom," Kristy said gratefully.

"I'll keep David Michael and Emily Michelle occupied," Nannie said. As she walked out of the kitchen, she lightly rested her hand on the small of Elizabeth's back.

Elizabeth filled her cup with coffee from the pot, taking time to mix in cream and sugar. After she finished this, she set down the spoon she was stirring with and set it on the counter, making a sticky mess of coffee and sugar. She remained at the counter for a moment, staring out the window, stalling for time.

Finally, Elizabeth approached the table and her children. She pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Okay, I'm ready," she said.

Charlie, Sam, and Kristy all looked at each other, all of them suddenly rendered silent. After a moment, Sam cleared his throat.

"We're really worried mom. About Watson. And the entire family," he stammered. "What's going on?'

Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Watson has been having some problems."

Kristy waited for her to say more, to elaborate in some way, but nothing came.

"We kind of noticed that mom," she said gently. "Is he going to get better?" she asked, her youthful hopefulness clearly shining through.

"I really don't know honey. I haven't the slightest idea. This has been going on for some time, but at the same time everything has happened so fast. I still haven't really made sense of all of it," Elizabeth said, almost apologetically.

"He needs to get help Mom," Charlie said. "I know I haven't really been here, but Kristy and Sam filled me in. And I'm really worried."

Elizabeth nodded slowly. "I am too," she said softly. "I went to see him last night. He's been staying at this office, but when I was there he wouldn't even try to reason with me."

Kristy furrowed her brow. "I thought you were working late last night."

"I know that's what I said. I didn't want you to worry. But I guess that happened anyway," Elizabeth said apologetically.

"Of course we are worried Mom!" Kristy's voice was rising now. "We've always been a team. And you never used to keep things from us. We just want to know what's going on."

"I know you do. But I don't really know what is going on right now. And even though the three of you have always been responsible, you are not adults. I am not going to tell you everything," Elizabeth explained. "And you are going to have to respect that."

Kristy nodded slowly. Even though she didn't like it, it made sense. She hated being so young.

"I'll do whatever it takes to keep this family going, like I always have," Elizabeth continued, "But you are going to have to trust me. Okay?"

Sam and Kristy nodded. Charlie looked at his watch.

"If we're done, I better get my things together. I want to be out of here by noon."

"You're going back already?" Elizabeth asked.

"I have a lot of studying to do," Charlie explained.

Kristy snickered. "I hear the library is like a party on Saturday night."

"What would you know about college Kristy?" Charlie shot back.

Elizabeth closed her eyes. "Just be responsible. All of you. I really don't need anything else to deal with at the moment."

"Yes mom," came a chorus of mumbles from the Thomas teenagers.

"I'm glad we talked," Elizabeth said, rising from her seat. "I need to go check on David Michael and Emily Michelle."

"See, I told you that mom has it under control," Charlie said, looking at Kristy and Sam. "Do you to feel any better now?"

Sam nodded. "You're right, I think that mom mostly has things under control. We just need to trust her. And I can step up if she needs anything. We'll be fine."

"What about you Kristy?" Charlie asked.

Kristy shrugged her shoulders. She wasn't exactly convinced that everything would be fine. How could things be fine when Watson hadn't been home in three days?

"I guess," she said uncertainly.

"Don't worry about it Kristy. Seriously. Just go to Sam or call me if you need anything. In a month this will have all blown over, I swear," Charlie promised.

Kristy nodded. "Okay."

Charlie, Sam and Kristy left the kitchen together, leaving all of their breakfast dishes on the table for Nannie to clean up. Once upstairs, they all went into their separate rooms.

Kristy went to her bed and lay down, pulling the covers over her head. She didn't feel very good at all about the conversation that they had just had. As much as she wanted to believe that everything would be okay, she couldn't. She really didn't have any reason to, besides the fact that Charlie said it. But that really wasn't enough anymore.

When she was younger, anything that Charlie said had been enough for her. She has really looked up to him. Now it seemed as if he was just trying to placate her. She wondered if that had been the case all along, and she was just now staring to realize it. It was a very real possibility.

Kristy closed her eyes. She just needed to sleep, and to forget about everything for a little while. When she woke up she resolved to call Abby. They could do their homework all day, and then hang out tonight. She needed to have some fun.


	8. Chapter 8

Looking at her watch, Kristy grabbed her keys, and ran out the door of the house. She was running late, which never happened to her. It's not like she had big plans or anything; she was just going to hang out with Abby, but at the same time tardiness in general bothered her. She had never been the type to be late to anything. You could ask anyone in the Babysitter's Club.

Not bothering with the sidewalk, Kristy cut across into Abby's yard, and opened the door to the Stevenson house without bothering to knock. She didn't knock because she and Abby were that close, but also because the Abby and Anna were so often alone in the big house; really, there wasn't any one to hear the doorbell.

"Abby?" Kristy called, shutting the door.

"I'm upstairs!" Came Abby's voice in the distance.

Kristy charged up the stairs and ran into Abby's room. "Sorry I'm late."

Abby looked at the clock. "Oh. I didn't even notice."

"So what are we doing tonight?" Kristy asked "I need to have some fun!"

Abby shrugged. "I don't know. We could watch a movie on HBO I guess."

Kristy grimaced. "We do that every weekend. We need to do some thing fun and exciting. So I can forget about everything that's going on."

"What's going on?" Abby asked quizzically.

Kristy glared at her. "Talking about it isn't going to exactly help me forget about it, now is it?"

"I guess not." Abby said, sounding hurt.

Kristy felt her face grow hot. She did feel a little bad that she hadn't told Abby about anything that had happened recently, but it wasn't like she had told anyone else either. No one would understand.

"We could go get something to eat," Kristy suggested. "We haven't been to the Rosebud in awhile. Maybe Anna could come too."

Abby wrinkled her nose. "She's busy tonight with Bart. But it would be fun for the two of us to go," she said, brightening up a bit.

"Great. I'll call home and see if my mom or Nannie can drive us."

"My mom is home," Abby said, "she can drive us."

"Your mom is home? I didn't even see her."

"That's because she's locked in her room, with James," Abby muttered.

"Her assistant?" Kristy asked.

"Yeah," Abby said, sighing heavily. "Her assistant." Neither Kristy said anything for a moment. Kristy could tell that Abby expected her to share something now, but she didn't say anything, even though the silence was almost overwhelming.

After a minute, Abby spoke. "I'll go tell mom that we need a ride."

Abby left the room to talk to her mom, and Kristy laid on the bed, flipping through the unfinished scrapbook that she picked up off the floor. Abby was working on the summer section, and almost every picture had Kristy in it. That was just the way their friendship was. That was the way that she had assumed that it would be, at least for awhile. Of course, at this time last year she never would have thought that the Babysitter's Club would have broken up, or that Watson would deem alcohol as more important than his family. So maybe what she thought didn't really count for much.

Abby came back into the room. "James is going to take us. He said to be downstairs in five minutes."

"James is taking us?" Kristy asked.

Abby shrugged. "He is her assistant. And my mom's busy, I guess."

Kristy and Abby talked a little more, and then headed downstairs. James chauffered them to the Rosebud in Mrs. Stevenson's Lexus. He was friendly enough, but Kristy could tell that he didn't exactly feel comfortable escorting them. No one really said anything during the entire ride. Abby basically just stared out the window.

After about ten minutes, James dropped them off in from of the Rosebud Café. As soon as he drove away, Abby let out a sigh.

"That wasn't awkward or anything," she said dryly.

"It wasn't so bad," Kristy said weakly.

Abby didn't say anything and instead headed towards the door. Kristy followed her to a booth in the back. From their viewpoint, they could see Logan Bruno stacking dishes and bringing them into the kitchen.

"I can't believe that he broke up with Mary Anne," said Kristy, shaking her head.

Abby grinned wickedly. "I heard it's because he's gay."

Kristy's mouth dropped open. "Abby! He's one of our friends! How can you say that?"

She shrugged innocently. "It's just what I heard."

"I don't think so," Kristy said, shaking her head. "Besides, I heard that he's going to ask out Miranda Schillabar."

"We'll see what happens five years from now," Abby said wisely.

Kristy and Abby continued chatting while they looked over the menus. Their order was taken, and just as it was being brought out to them Claudia and Stacey walked into the restaurant, and sat down at a booth near them. Kristy and Abby gave them each small waves and tight smiles.

Throughout the meal the girls talked about what they wanted to do that evening, but didn't really settle on anything. They would probably end up going back to one of their houses and watch movies, like usual. Which was fine; Kristy could have fun with Abby doing just about anything. But at the same time, she wanted something more. But it's not like Stoneybrook was a big city just bustling with things to do. Their choices were limited.

Kristy was just finishing the chocolate milkshake that she ordered for dessert when Stacey and Claudia came up to there table. Stacey looked amazing, as usual. Claudia was wearing ripped capris, with hot pink leggings underneath them. Also, she had on a tweed blazer over a rhinestone studded tank top, and completed the outfit with a purple bandana. Kristy wasn't really one to judge fashion-wise, but she in no way thought that Claudia's outfit was fit for public.

Stacey smiled at Abby, and then shifted her gaze towards Kristy. "How's everything going?" she asked. She tried to make the question casual, but one could tell that there was something more to it, if they listened closely enough.

"I'm fine. Everything's fine," Kristy assured "What are you two doing tonight?"

Stacey giggled. "Sam told me about a party at Bart Taylor's house. He's going to be there, and he wants Claudia and I to come."

Abby rolled her eyes. "I guess that answers the question about what Anna is doing tonight."

"That sounds like fun," Kristy said, her eyes suddenly moving towards the entrance. "Look, it's Mal! She's here with the triplets. She must be home for the weekend." Kristy waved her back towards the group.

Mallory walk towards the back of the restaurant, leaving the triplets to their own devices up front. She hadn't changed that much: her hair was still frizzy, braces still on her teeth, and her glasses overtook her face. But despite the awkwardness that basically oozed out of her, deep down Mal was really a sweet girl.

"Hey Mal," Kristy greeted. "How are you?"

"How's Riverbend?" Stacey asked.

"I love it," Mallory said, smiling shyly. "But I miss you guys a lot."

"We miss you too Mal," Claudia said.

Abby nodded in agreement, but was looking past Mallory to some girls from the soccer team who had just walked in. Mallory had gone away to school shortly after Abby had moved to Stoneybrook, so they didn't really know each other that well.

"What are you doing tonight?" Kristy asked "Are you just hanging out with your family?"

Mallory shrugged. "That's pretty much the plan, but being home is kind of driving me crazy. When you are away you forget what it's like to live with your parents and seven siblings."

Stacey's eyes widened. "You should come to this party with us. You all should!"

Claudia looked at Stacey imploringly. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

Stacey waved her hand, dismissing Claudia. "It's not like it's going to be a wild party or anything. Bart's parents are going out to dinner or something, but they will be back before it gets too late. Sam just said that it was an excuse for people to get to know each other better."

"If Anna has anything to do with it, nothing will get out of hand," Abby offered.

Kristy nodded her head slowly. Maybe this was what she needed. "It does sound like fun."

Mallory bit her bottom lip. "What about my parents? I don't think that they would want me to go to a party with high school students."

"Just tell them that you're hanging out with us," Kristy said. "Or better yet, have the triplets tell them."

Mallory broke into a huge grin. "This is going to be great!"

Kristy smiled back. "It really will be. I miss hanging out with all of you."

Claudia and Stacey nodded in agreement, while Mallory went to the booth the triplets were sitting in to fill them in on what to tell their parents. After a few minutes the girls were outside the restaurant and walking to Bart's house.

"Why do we have to walk to the party?" Abby grumbled. "I'm sure one of our parents could give us a ride."

"You can't get dropped off at a high school party," Stacey explained. "It's practically a rule. Sam explained this all to me last night."

"What are the other rules?" Mallory asked, concerned.

"They were just about what you should wear." Stacey sized up Mallory's outfit, which consisted of ill fitting jeans and a Riverbend Hall t-shirt with her name embroidered on the sleeve. "But I'm sure they're not actually enforced," she said kindly.

Abby, Claudia, Stacey, and Mallory talked and laughed as the group walked through the streets of Stoneybrook. Kristy didn't really say anything. She was content to simply soak up everything that was happening around her; it was almost exactly the opposite of what was going on at home. Looking around her, it was almost as if the Babysitter's Club had never disbanded, and the girls were on their way to hold a summer camp, or solve a mystery. Except that they were on a way to a party, and these five particular girls hadn't spent time together as a unit in months. But it was close enough for Kristy.

After about a half hour of walking, the girls were on Bart's block. They could hear the music blasting out of the open windows and into the street. They all turned to each other and grinned; excitement was in the air.

"Let's party," Kristy said, smiling.


	9. Chapter 9

Standing with her friends on the Taylor's front porch, Kristy reached out her hand to ring the bell. Stacey then stepped in front of her, making herself the head of the group.

"Sorry, but I'm the one who was invited to the party in the first place. They'll be expecting me," she said, preening in her reflection in the glass.

Kristy took a step back, momentarily angry. She soon relaxed though. She had to remind herself that this wasn't the Babysitter's Club, and she wasn't in charge anymore. She was okay with that, it was just different. And judging from her the current state of her life, it was very likely for the better.

Bart Taylor opened the door to the house, music spilling onto the porch. "Hey!" he said. "Come on in!"

Anna came up from behind him and put at arm around him. It took her a moment to notice her sister.

"Abby? Does mom know you're here?" she asked.

Abby looked at her quizzically. "No. Does she know that you're here?"

Anna bit her lip. "Well no. I just wasn't expecting you to show up. Or you two," she said, looking at Kristy and Mallory.

"The more the merrier!" Bart cried out, clutching Anna close to him.

Stacey stepped in and looked Bart straight in the eye. "Is Sam here yet?"

"Yeah, I think he's in the kitchen," Bart said.

"Thanks!" Stacey called over her shoulder. She set off to the kitchen before the words were even out of his mouth, with Claudia following right after her. It made Kristy wonder if there was more to Stacey and Sam's relationship than she thought, but she quickly dismissed it. Stacey was a smart girl, and practically a math genius. She wouldn't get into anything over her head. And Sam was a good guy, so really, there shouldn't be any problem at all.

Abby and Anna ducked into the living room to talk, leaving Kristy and Mallory alone in the foyer with Bart. This made Kristy slightly uncomfortable. She and Bart had sort of dated in eighth grade; they had actually even kissed, but had eventually decided that they were better off being friends. They got along well and everything, but it was weird seeing him with Anna. She never would have predicted them as a couple. They really didn't have a single thing in common. None that she could think of, any way.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here Thomas," Bart said. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Mallory," she said, "She was a member of the Babysitter's Club."

"Of course. Well don't just stand there, join the party," Bart said, opening the door that led downstairs to the basement, where he disappeared in to the crowd. "Say hello to your friends!" He yelled over his shoulder.

Mallory turned to Kristy, her face flushed, "Do you think he likes me?" she asked.

Kristy hesitated. "I think he likes Anna, actually. Besides, he's a little old for you."

"I guess," Mallory said, sighing. "I can't wait to be older."

"It's not as great as it seems," Kristy said. "Believe me."

Abby and Anna walked out of the living room together, and Anna headed straight downstairs to the basement. Abby looked at Kristy and Mallory, shrugged, and went downstairs after Anna. Kristy and Mallory followed suit.

Entering the basement, Kristy was surprised to find it quite crowed. People were hanging out in groups, some listening to music, some dancing, and some playing pool or foosball. She was really relieved to see that everyone was drinking either water or soda. She hadn't really expected otherwise, with Bart's parents coming back at some point that night, but she had been a little bit nervous nonetheless. She was in no way ready for anything more than this.

Initially, Abby headed into the crowd while Mallory and Kristy hung back, just observing everything that was going on. The crowd was a good mix of Stoneybrook High and Stoneybrook Day students, but they were generally staying in their own groups, which was typical. Kristy glanced over at Mallory, who was grinning ear to ear, and loving being at the party, even though she wasn't really doing anything, which made Kristy smile to herself. Two years ago, she would have been exactly the same way.

Abby returned from wherever she had disappeared to, and came back with Erica Blumberg.

"What are you two doing just standing here?" Abby asked, shouting over the music. "You need to come dance!"

Mallory clapped her hands together. "I will!" she shouted.

Kristy was a little more hesitant, but didn't resist when Abby and Erica pulled her into the center of the room with a group of girls from Stoneybrook Day. She recognized one, Greer Carson, as a friend of Shannon Kilbourne. Kristy tried to move along with the music, but she felt a little bit ridiculous doing so. She had taken ballet one summer when she was in grade school, but that was about the extent of her dancing experience. And from catching glimpses of reflection in the darkened windows of the basement, that was probably a good thing.

Abby, Mallory, and Erica all seemed to be having a great time, dancing around and screaming along with the lyrics. Kristy could tell that they weren't the best dancers either, but they were having fun, and didn't seem to mind. This helped her relax, and she tried to let go of everything that she was thinking about, and live in the moment. She had certainly earned a night of fun with her friends.

The next hour passed quickly, with Abby, Kristy, Mallory, and Erica dancing together to every song that came on. The Stoneybrook Day girls even danced with them a little bit, and Kristy was having a great time. It felt like everything that high school was supposed to be. She hadn't realized that she was missing this feeling until exactly this moment, and now that she had it, she couldn't even think of living without it.

Kristy was having such a good time dancing that she became lost in what she was doing. She didn't even notice when Stacey, Claudia, and Sam made their way into the basement. Stacey ran to the center of the room where everyone was dancing and gave Kristy a big hug.

"I'm so glad you came here with us Kristy! I miss hanging out with you," Stacey exclaimed.

Kristy took a step back. "Thanks Stace. I miss you too."

Stacey beamed and then turned to give Abby a hug. She had bridged about half of the distance between them when Abby grabbed her shoulders, holding her back.

"I smell alcohol," Abby said. "Is that _you_ Stacey?"

Stacey giggled. "No. I mean, yes. I just had a little. Sam said that it would loosen me up. And it did; I'm having so much fun!"

Kristy whipped her head around and glared at her brother. "You gave her alcohol? How could you Sam? And where did you even get it?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders. "I found some in the cabinet above the fridge. Bart's parents have so much that they won't even notice that some of it is gone. Besides, all that she had was two shots. It's not a big deal."

"It is too a big deal," Kristy exclaimed. By now she had stepped to the side of the room to have a conversation with Sam. Stacey was dancing with Erica and Mallory in the middle of the room, and Claudia was hanging back, keeping her distance.

"Maybe you should have something to loosen up yourself," Sam said sarcastically, only half joking.

"You're just like Watson," Kristy said, walking towards her friends.

"Get over it Kristy," Sam called as she was walking away. "You're in high school now."

Kristy walked over to Claudia. "How much did she have? And why did you let her drink?" she asked accusingly.

Claudia shrugged. "She didn't have very much Kristy. And it's not like I gave it to her, Sam did."

"Oh it's totally fine then." Kristy muttered.

Kristy leaned back against the wall trying to think of what she should do. She didn't really know much about alcohol, and it didn't really seem like Stacey was drunk or anything, but she thought it might be best to get her out of the party atmosphere. Knowing the she wouldn't be able to do it alone, she did a quick scan of the crowd, looking for Bart. When she finally saw him, she started towards him. He would have to help her. It was his party.

Bart was watching Cary Retlin and Pete Black play foosball, his arm slung around Anna's waist. Kristy pulled him away, much to his surprise and Anna's chagrin.

"What kind of party is this?" Kristy hissed.

"Whoa, back up Thomas. What's your problem?" Bart asked.

"Sam gave Stacey alcohol," She said, gesturing towards the middle of the room where Stacey and Sam were dancing, hardly an inch between them.

Kristy watched as the color drained from Bart's face. "He gave her _alcohol_? Shit, my parents are going to be home soon. They'll kill me." He turned to Kristy. "What should we do?"

"I don't know," Kristy said helplessly. "Let's try to get her upstairs. Maybe drinking water would help."

Kristy and Bart approached Sam and Stacey, and looked at each other, neither one really sure what to do.

Kristy approached Stacey, and pulled her back from her attachment to Sam. "Let's go upstairs Stace. You need to drink some water. And maybe coffee."

Stacey pulled out her Kristy's grasp, spinning around so she was standing against Sam. "Leave me alone Kristy. You don't know how to have fun."

At this point someone had turned down the music, and people had halted their activities to watch what was going on. Kristy felt her face start to flush.

She did have some allies though. Bart, Abby, Mallory, and even Erica and Claudia were standing behind her in support.

"Come on upstairs Stacey," Bart said, almost pleading. "If my parents find out that people were drinking I am so dead."

Stacey's eyes turned to narrow slits. "I wouldn't want to get Bart-the-Basher in trouble," she said.

"Hey!" Bart objected

Stacey kept going. "None of you care about me, so don't even pretend. Sam told me." She turned to Kristy, "You're just a pathetic do-gooder who wants to make everything better. Too bad you can't fix your family."

"Stacey…" Kristy protected weakly, silently willing her not to go on.

"And you two," Stacey continued, motioning to Abby and Erica, "You don't have any real friends, because you don't care about any one but yourself." Stacey then walked over to Mallory. Kristy held her breath, scared of what she would say, but unable to bring herself to stop it.

"Mallory Pike, the only twelve year old at a high school party. I bet you think you're cool, don't you? It's too bad that no one will ever remember you as anything but _Spaz Girl_," Stacey taunted.

Mallory's eyes grew wide, and then started to well up with tears. She turned around and headed towards the stairs.

"That's right Spaz Girl, run back to Riverbend. And don't come back until you are the most popular in school. And by that, I mean never." Stacey called after her.

Bart glared at Stacey, and then at Sam. "You started this mess, and now you can deal with it. Why don't you take her home or something. Just leave."

"Whatever," Sam said dismissively. "This party is lame anyway. Come on Stace."

Sam turned to head up the stairs, and Stacey and Claudia followed him. Kristy had no idea where they were going, or what they were going to do, but at this point she didn't care. It was Sam's problem now.

Around the room, people were getting there things together and starting to leave. Bart watched helplessly.

"You don't have to go…" he said.

Abby looked around the room, and then over at Kristy. "I guess this was more interesting than our normal Saturday night," she said, trying to lighten up the situation.

"Let's just go," Kristy said. She wasn't in any mood for Abby's humor.

Kristy and Abby left the party and Bart's house. They walked in silence until they reached McLelland Road and their respective houses.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow," Abby said

Kristy nodded. "I'll call you. Bye."

"Bye."

Kristy trudged up the stairs to the house. It was a little past ten, so David Michael and Emily Michelle would be in bed, but there was a light on in the kitchen, so she figured that either her mom or Nannie were still up. She didn't expect that Sam was home.

Kristy walked in the door, and hung up her jacket the corridor.

"Is that you Kristy?" Elizabeth called out.

"Hi mom," Kristy answered back.

Elizabeth was sitting at the kitchen table, her brow furrowed. She relaxed a bit when she turned to look at Kristy.

"How was your night with Abby sweetie? Did you have fun?"

"It wasn't bad," Kristy said. "How were things here?"

Elizabeth sighed. "Oh Kristy…"

Hearing this, Kristy felt her heart start to pound in her chest. "What?"

"Your father called. He is going to be in New York next weekend on business, and he wants to see you"


	10. Chapter 10

"Me?" Kristy asked "He wants to see me?"

"Well, you and Sam, of course. Charlie too, if he's not busy at school," Elizabeth explained.

"What about David Michael?" Kristy asked.

Elizabeth pressed her lips together. "He's still so little. Your father and I both think that it is best that he doesn't go along this time."

Even though that was hardly the explanation that Kristy was looking for, she dismissed it, quickly putting it to the back of her mind. She hadn't seen her dad since she had flown out to his wedding to with Charlie and Sam. It had been a pretty good time, and for the most part, she liked her step-mom Zoey. But even so, the contact that the two families had was rather sporadic. She had received a card for her birthday, but in typical Patrick fashion, it had arrived two weeks late. Just the thought of going out to dinner with him was unsettling.

"Do you think I should go?" Kristy asked her mother, unsure. She was always curious about her father, and she did want to get to know him, but at the same time, the situation was so weird.

Elizabeth sighed. "It's your decision sweetheart, but I think that you should. You should know your father. You had a good time with him in California, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" Kristy said, hesitantly.

"You have all week to think about it honey. You should talk about it with your brothers in the morning," Elizabeth said. Even though she was smiling, her eyes looked incredibly tired.

Kristy nodded. "I will. I'm going to go upstairs now, and get ready for bed. I'm really tired."

"Good night honey."

Kristy walked upstairs to her room, closing the door behind her. She pulled the old Babysitter's Club record book out of the drawer in her desk and found the Pike's number: KL5-8974. She wanted to check up on Mallory; she felt partially responsible for what had happened at Bart's. She dialed the number, and listened to the phone ring a few times. Finally, Mrs. Pike answered the phone.

"Hello, this is-" Mrs. Pike answered, just as someone started shrieking in the background. "Nicky, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop giving Claire the bizzer sign!" She paused. "I'm sorry. This is Dee."

"Hi Mrs. Pike, it's Kristy Thomas. Is Mallory there?"

"Oh hi Kristy. I'm sure Mallory's around here somewhere. It's so nice of you to call. Here she is."

"Thanks Mrs. Pike."

Mrs. Pike said goodbye, and then the phone was passed off, but no one said anything on the other end.

"Mallory? It's Kristy. Are you there?"

"Yeah," Mallory responded, her voice small.

"Mallory I'm really sorry about what happened tonight. What Stacey said was horrible, and not true at all. I have no idea why she was talking like that anyway. Besides the drinking, I mean. Though I think that my brother had something to do with it."

Mallory sniffled. "It's okay, I guess. She wasn't exactly nice to you either. I just don't understand why she was so mean to everybody. Stacey was always so great before."

Kristy sighed. "I don't know either. I think it was because she was drinking though. Alcohol makes people mean sometimes." She was finding that out for herself, anyway.

"Maybe she was right," Mallory said softly. "I am a loser. I should just go to Riverbend and not come back."

"Oh Mal, don't listen to her. You _should_ go back to Riverbend, but only because it makes you happy. And you shouldn't be afraid to come back to Stoneybrook, because you do have friends here."

"Thanks Kristy, but you don't need to pretend. Stacey is the most sophisticated person I know, so if she thinks that I'm a loser then she is right. But I can change."

"You don't need to do that Mal. We like you the way you are," Kristy pleaded.

"I'm going to change," Mal vowed, her voice suddenly strong. "And the next time I talk to Stacey, she won't even recognize me."

"Mallory…"

"Don't bother Kristy," Mallory said. Her voice softened. "But thanks for everything. You're a good friend."

"You too Mal. Let me know when you are back in town."

"We'll see. Bye Kristy,"

"Bye."

Kristy held the receiver in her hand for a few moments before she hung up the phone. She felt bad for everything that had happened tonight. Even though it wasn't her fault, she felt like she should have been looking out for Mallory a little bit more. She shouldn't have been so quick to take her to the party anyway.

Kristy knew that she should call Abby as well, and figure out what happened to Sam, Stacy, and Claudia. She wanted to, but suddenly she was exhausted. Without even changing into her pajamas, she pulled back the covers and fell fast asleep.

----------------------------

Kristy woke up the next morning to sun streaming in through her window. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up in bed. She looked at the clock on her nightstand: It was nine thirty. Stepping out of bed and into the hallway, she smelt breakfast cooking and followed the aroma into the kitchen. To her surprise, Watson was standing at the stove making pancakes, while David Michael and Emily Michelle were seated at the kitchen table wearing big smiles and eating happily. Nannie was supervising silently from the laundry room across the hall where she was folding clothes.

"Good Morning kiddo," Watson said, smiling as he noticed Kristy come into the room. "How many pancakes can I get you this morning? Your wish is my command."

Kristy blinked, momentarily silenced by the magnitude of the situation at hand. "Three would be good, thanks."

Sitting down at the table, Kristy turned the situation over in her head. It was almost as if the last week had never happened. Or maybe it really had happened, and it was all over now. Unfortunately, Kristy wasn't naive enough to really believe either of those scenarios, even though she wanted to with all of her heart.

Emily Michelle looked at Kristy and giggled "Daddy's home!" she said.

Kristy smiled. "I know! And he made you a yummy breakfast, didn't he?"

"I like pancakes," Emily Michelle agreed, nodding.

"Here you go, fresh of the stove," Watson said, putting a plate down in front of Kristy.

"Thanks," she said, still slightly bewildered. She reached for butter and syrup to put on her food. "My compliments to the chef."

"Thank you ma'am," Watson said, bowing, which made David Michael and Emily Michelle laugh.

Kristy ate her breakfast thoughtfully. It was so strange to see Watson making breakfast and laughing with the kids like nothing happened, but at the same time it was so familiar. Up until a week ago, this had been a common household event. One that would be so easy to fall back into, if she could forget everything that had happened.

She didn't really know what to think.

Just Kristy was finishing up her breakfast, Elizabeth came downstairs and into the kitchen, bypassing all the children and heading straight to Watson, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks for making breakfast" she murmured softly.

"It's no problem," Watson responded, putting his arm around her.

Rolling her eyes, Kristy gathered her dishes and set them on the counter. She was still wary of the tenuous peace that had overtaken the household, even if her mother wasn't. She walked up to her room noticing that Sam's door was closed. He must have gotten Stacey home alright last night. She hoped so at least. If he got her into that mess, it was the least that he could do to get her out of it.

Kristy spent the next hour in her room getting ready for the day. From her window, she saw Nannie take off in the Pink Clinker with David Michael and Emily Michelle. The car heaved and sputtered as it left the driveway.

Kristy continued to stare out the window as the car drove out of view, ignoring everything else. She didn't move to when the phone rang, or when Sam knocked on her door with a mumbled apology for the previous night. It felt so good to simply do and think about nothing for a change. A part of her wanted to stay like this forever, but she knew that she couldn't. She had homework to do, for one thing. But she had something else to do as well.

Sighing, Kristy walked away from her window and put on a light jacket. She needed to talk to Abby about everything that was going on, and to finally tell her the truth. Knowing that this was something that she wouldn't be able to do over the phone, she opened her bedroom door, joining the world again.

Kristy stopped briefly at the bottom of the stairs, stalling for time. Even though Abby was her best friend, she still wasn't looking forward to this conversation. Maybe because talking about everything and actually saying it out loud made it that much more real.

Just before she was about to head out the door, Kristy heard hushed voices coming from Watson's office. Worried that this was the start of another fight, and everything that came with it, she walked to the door and held her breath, trying to hear everything that was going on behind it.

"I guess I never realized things were that bad," Elizabeth says.

Watson cleared his throat. "I'm sure that Lisa is exaggerating somewhat. She always had a tendencey to do that."

"Well do you think we should take them?" Elizabeth asked.

Kristy leaned closer to the door. Lisa was Karen and Andrews's mom, but she wondered why they were talking about her. Normally the kids called every Monday night to talk to their dad. Watson and Lisa didn't really talk unless the kids were coming out for a visit, and that wouldn't happen until Thanksgiving, which was over a month away.

"Of course we should take them," Watson said impatiently. "They're my kids. They belong here. I knew Lisa would realize that eventually." He paused. "Do you have a problem with them coming here?" He asked accusingly.

"Of course not, I love Karen and Andrew like my own children, you know that," Elizabeth said defensively. She then sighed. "I just worry what it will be like around here with two extra kids."

Kristy held her breath. Were Karen and Andrew coming back to Stoneybrook permanently? That's what it sounded like, but she couldn't imagine why.

"It will be fine," Watson said dismissivly. "If it gets to be too hectic, you can quit your job and manage the house, like I have been telling you to do for years. It's not like I don't make enough money to support us and then some."

Elizabeth sighed "For the last time, I'm not quitting my job. And I know that we can take care of the kids, that's not what I'm worried about. I don't want any of the kids to see anything like what happened last week again. You need to cut down on your drinking. I won't have this family falling apart."

"Oh come off it Edie," Watson said in disgust.

"Don't call me that! I hate that name," Elizabeth shot back.

Kristy stepped away from the door as things escalated between Watson and her mom. It reminded her of the fights that her mom had had with Patrick when she was younger. And even though she was fourteen, hearing this fight made her feel four again.

"Karen and Andrew are coming back here, and that's final," Watson said. "I'll speak to Lisa and work out the final details tomorrow."

Kristy held her breath as no one said anything for a moment.

"I have work to do Elizabeth," Watson said, the words hanging in the air.

Hearing this, Kristy ran softly from the hallway and in to the kitchen, where she quickly opened the refrigerator door, pretending to look for something to eat. A moment later, the office door opened and Elizabeth came out.

"Hey mom," Kristy said, trying to act natural while she poured herself a glass of apple juice. "What's up?"

Elizabeth sighed. "Lisa Engle just called. She and Seth are having some problems, and its starting to affect the kids. It looks like your brother and sister will staying with us for awhile."


	11. Chapter 11

"Oh. Wow," Kristy said, trying to gauge her mother's thoughts and project a desired reaction. "I guess I didn't really expected that."

Elizabeth sighed. "Lisa and Seth have been having some problems for awhile now, so we have known that it could be a possibility. I just didn't think that it would happen so soon…"

Kristy could tell that her mother wasn't totally comfortable with the situation at hand. And neither was she. Even though she loved Karen and Andrew, they were a lot to handle, Karen especially. And she couldn't imagine adding two more kids to the house right now. She didn't know what was going on with Lisa and Seth, but who could say if the kids weren't better off staying in Chicago?

"But everything will be okay, right mom?" Kristy asked carefully. She didn't even know if she wanted to hear a response. She couldn't imagine that anything said would be sufficient.

Elizabeth gave a weak smile. "Of course it will honey. We're just having a few problems right now. It might even be better to have the whole family back together again."

Kristy smiled back, even though it sounded that Elizabeth was speaking more for her benefit, and not Kristy's.

Before Kristy could think of anything supportive to say back, Elizabeth rose from where she was leaning against the counter.

"I need to go talk to Nannie," she said absently.

As Elizabeth walked out of the room, Kristy let out a sigh of her own. She had no idea what was going on, and apparently her mother didn't either. Her mood seemed to change from moment to moment, which she forgave, given everything that was going on. But still, someone had to hold the family together. Last year, Kristy had thought that she would be able to fix any problem with a little hard work and her friends at her side. Now she understood that some problems were too big for her. And even though this made her feel powerless, she also felt relieved. She didn't really need or want any additional responsibility right now.

Kristy listlessly sipped the glass of apple juice that she had poured herself. Ten minutes ago she had been set to go to Abby's and fill her in on everything. Now she had no desire at all. She didn't want to tell Abby what was going on until she had fully worked through the details on her own, but new things kept coming up so fast that she couldn't possibly do this. There was so much happening that she couldn't possibly make sense of it all. Kristy made a silent wish that things would settle down, at least momentarily, so that her family would have time to breathe. They needed it.

As she leaned against the counter, Sam poked his head into the kitchen.

"Oh, it's just you," He said, noticing Kristy.

Kristy rolled her eyes. "It's so nice to see you too."

"Cut it out Kristy. Is mom in here?" Sam asked.

Kristy furrowed her brow. "She just left, why?"

Without answering, Sam left the room. He reemerged a few moments later, with Stacey in tow.

Kristy looked to Sam, then to Stacey, and then to her watch, which confirmed that it was still relatively early in the morning.

"What's she doing here?" Kristy asked Sam. Sam had on pajamas and a rumpled t-shirt, but Stacey was still wearing her clothes from the night before.

"I couldn't go home last night, after, um, the party," Stacey said weakly. "So Sam said I could stay here."

Kristy narrowed her eyes. "What did your mom say about that?"

"She didn't mind," Stacey responded, averting her eyes, and leaning closer to Sam.

"I find it hard to believe that your mom didn't mind you spending the night with your boyfriend." Kristy asked, not trying to hide her doubt.

Stacey hesitated. "I told her I was spending the night here. Which I did, obviously. But I kind of told her that I would be spending the night with you. Like a sleepover."

Kristy crossed her arms over her chest. "So you tell off everyone because you are drunk and stupid, and then you expect me to lie for you? That's asking a lot."

"It's not a big deal Kristy," Sam interjected. "You don't even have to say anything unless mom asks, which I doubt she will. She hasn't noticed anything that I've done in the last month." He continued: "And besides, it's not really Stacey's fault. She didn't bring anything to the party, the Taylor's had the alcohol."

"Nice try Sam, I almost buy that." Inside, Kristy was fuming. What a pathetic excuse. She had no respect for alcohol use, especially in light of recent events. What could Sam have been thinking?

The sound of a horn beeping caused all three of them to look out the window, where Mrs. McGill had pulled into the driveway to wait for Stacey.

"I'm going to go now," Stacey said, eager to get out of the uncomfortable situation. She turned to Sam and gave him a kiss, causing Kristy to roll her eyes and look away. "Thanks for everything," she said softly.

"No problem," Sam said, squeezing her shoulder.

Stacey walked towards the door. Placing her hand on the doorknob, she stopped and turned back to the siblings.

"Thanks Kristy. And sorry, too, I guess."

"Bye Stace," Kristy said, in a tone that could have either been dismissive or forgiving. Even Kristy wasn't sure what she meant. There was way too much going on inside of her.

"Don't tell mom, okay Kristy?" Sam asked, almost pleading. He didn't sound tough anymore. He was just her brother asking him to cover up for her, as he had done about a million times before.

Kristy rolled her eyes. "Fine. But only because mom has enough other things to worry about. I guess Karen and Andrew are moving back here."

"What? Why?" Sam asked, alarm and concern in his voice.

"I don't really know," Kristy said, shrugging. "Lisa and Seth are fighting I guess. But that's not all of it. Have you talked to mom yet?"

"No, not since yesterday."

"Patrick will in New York for some sort of business thing. He wants to take us out to dinner on Friday."

"All of us?" Sam asked.

"Tthe two of us, and Charlie, if he's not busy with school," Kristy explained.

"What about David Michael?" Sam asked.

"Mom says he's too young, I guess. She and Patrick agreed."

"What does that even mean?" Sam asked angrily. "Yeah, maybe he was too young to come out to California with us, but there's no reason that he can't come out to dinner with us. It's not like he's never been to a restaurant before."

"I don't get it either." Kristy said, shaking her head slightly. "He's going to be crushed."

"I'm going to call Charlie," Sam said. "He needs to know about this."

"I don't know," Kristy said hesitantly. "He was just here, and he didn't really do anything. I think that he is more concerned about school than anything that is going on at home. He doesn't care anymore."

Sam shook his head. "He's our brother, Kristy. He'll be there for us if we need him."

With that, Sam walked out of the kitchen and upstairs, and Kristy was left alone once again. She took a final swig of her apple juice, and set the glass down on the counter. Sighing to herself, she left the house and walked over to Abby's. It wasn't that she really wanted to go over there, but more like she didn't really know what else to do. She always went to Abby's.

Standing on the Stevenson's porch after ringing the bell, Kristy hugged herself tight. The air was getting colder already. It wouldn't be long until winter took over completely. She was wishing that she had worn warmer clothes when Mrs. Stevenson answered the door.

"Kristy," She said, "It's so nice to see you! Come on in."

Kristy stepped into the entryway, a little surprised by Mrs. Stevenson's warm reception. Though she was always nice enough, she had never really been this friendly. And that was when she was here, and not living her life in New York.

"Is Abby upstairs?" Kristy asked.

"She's in her room. I swear, she never leaves it. I'm glad you're here, though, because I was just leaving. I'm headed to the city to get some work done at the office, and then get dinner with James," Mrs. Stevenson said, zipping up her coat. "You girls have fun. And if you get hungry, order a pizza, it's my treat."

"Thanks," Kristy said weakly, as Mrs. Stevenson headed out the door. Alone in the entryway, she jogged upstairs to Abby's bedroom. The door was closed, and music was playing loudly. She didn't bother to knock, and just walked right in the room, which was a mess, Her bed wasn't made, and was piled with clothes and schoolbooks. Abby lay on her futon, clutching a pillow and staring at the ceiling. It was strange for Kristy to see Abby, her high energy best friend, so still.

Kristy plopped down on a beanbag chair. "I need a break from life," she announced.

"You can take one with me," Abby said, moving over slightly to make room on the futon.

"Okay," Kristy said, settling in next to Abby. No words passed between the two of them, and the silence felt comforting. It didn't have any expectations to it. They stayed that way well into the afternoon.


	12. Chapter 12

Kristy sat at her desk, working on her English homework. She was so into it that she didn't hear David Michael knock at her door, and was startled when he came up from behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Dinner's ready Kristy," He informed her.

Kristy set down her pen on her notebook, and turned around in her chair. She smiled. "Thanks buddy, what are we having?"

David Michael shrugged. "Watson is making something. Mom says that we are supposed to come down right now."

"Okay," Kristy said. "Tell mom that I'll be right down."

David Michael ran out of the room, and Kristy stood up slowly from her chair. She wasn't really too thrilled at the concept of a family dinner. Though the last few days had been calm, most of the time she was unsure of weather or not people were acting real, or pretending for the benefit of some sort of happy family act.

Kristy walked downstairs. To her surprise, the rest of her family was already seated at the table, talking and laughing. She took her place quickly and helped herself to the bowls of food that were being passed around. After a few minutes, that camaraderie subsided, and something like silence descended on the kitchen as everyone became focused on the task at hand.

"Enjoy the peacefulness," Elizabeth said smiling. "Things are going to get a little crazy in a few days when Karen and Andrew move back in."

"I'm tired of Karen," David Michael grumbled. He perked up. "But Andrew is fun."

"When is that happening again Mom?" Sam asked, his mouth full.

Elizabeth shot David Michael a look, then turned to Sam. "We're going to pick them up Friday. They'll be here when you return from your dinner with Patrick."

"We're going out to dinner with my _dad_?" David Michael squeaked.

Elizabeth slowly shook her head. "Just Charlie, Sam, and Kristy, honey. You're going with us to the airport to pick up Karen and Andrew."

"But I want to go out to dinner!" David Michael exclaimed, throwing his silverware down on his plate.

Watson cleared his throat. "Your mother and I talked about it, son. We just feel that you are a little too young."

"We can take care of him, you know," Kristy posed.

"Yeah," Sam added. "It's not a big deal. He should come if he wants to."

David Michael looked over from his mother, to Watson, and his mother again. "Please," he begged, his eyes shining.

At this point, Kristy felt horrible for her little brother. Sure, she didn't think that Patrick was that great, but at least she had the opportunity to see him a few times a year. And she couldn't blame David Michael for wanting to know his dad. She just didn't really understand why no one wanted him to go. She didn't think that it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

"I'm sorry David Michael, but you're coming with us to the airport, and that's final," Watson said firmly.

David Michael crossed his arms, and Kristy could tell that he was trying not to cry. She looked across the table to see her mother and Nannie having a silent conversation between them, while Watson excused himself to pour another glass of whatever he was drinking. Kristy sighed, and put down her fork. Suddenly, she wasn't so hungry anymore.

"I'm going to Abby's," Kristy said suddenly.

"That's fine honey," Elizabeth said absently as she attempted to console David Michael.

Kristy walked across her yard and into Abby's, wishing that she had thought to grab a jacket before she had left. Her fall leaves sweatshirt wasn't enough for the cool November evening.

The Stevenson's garage door was open, and Mrs. Stevenson's Lexus wasn't inside, so Kristy followed the usual protocol of walking in through the front door without knocking, and followed the light into the kitchen, where Anna and Bart were laughing and making something in the blender.

"Hey Thomas," Bart said.

"Abby's upstairs," Anna supplied.

Kristy grabbed an apple that was in a bowl on the counter, and ran up the back staircase. "Thanks," she called over her shoulder.

Kristy opened the door to Abby's room, and found her sitting at her desk with headphones on, drumming with her pencil and pen on her history textbook.

"Well it looks like you're getting a lot of work done," Kristy said, glancing towards the blank page of Abby's open notebook.

Abby grinned sheepishly. "I just can't get into this. I mean, who really cares about storming the beaches at Normandy or whatever?"

Kristy shrugged. She knew from experience that there was no point in arguing with Abby over some things, and the educational system was one of them. "So guess what?" she asked.

Abby took her headphones off and let them hang around her neck. "What?" she asked.

"Patrick's in town for business or something. We're going out to dinner with him on Friday."

"You don't sound too excited," Abby remarked.

Kristy bit nervously on her lower lip. "It's Patrick. I can't let myself get excited over him. He's let me down too many times."

"Still, it's nice that he's taking you out to dinner. At least you get to see him," Abby offered.

"I guess," Kristy said, sinking down into Abby's soft carpet. She pulled the sleeves of her sweater over her hands until she could only see the tips of her fingers. Maybe she should be more excited about seeing Patrick. Sometimes she tried to get excited, but this was always coupled by a sinking feeling in her stomach that reminded her of all the times he had let her down. Getting her hopes up wasn't really worth it at this point.

Abby closed her history textbook with more force than necessary. "Maybe you should be happy that you have a dad to take you out to dinner"

Kristy was taken aback. "I'm sorry Abby," she muttered softly.

Abby narrowed her eyes. "You think that everyone should feel sorry for you because your father left you when you were little. At least he's trying to be back in your life. And last time I checked, you had _two _dads. "

"It's not like that, and you know it Abby," Kristy said softly.

"I see what I see," Abby said, shrugging her shoulders. She turned around in her chair and opened her book again and began reading intently, even though she had just closed it, and she hadn't been studying when Kristy had walked in.

"Abby…" Kristy said, her voice faltering. She wanted to say more, but she couldn't find the words.

"Bye Kristy," Abby said without taking her eyes off her book.

Kristy sighed and left the room, running swiftly down the stairs and out the door. Once on the sidewalk, she realized that she didn't know where she was going. She had left her own house in frustration just a half hour before. She really had never had to think of where to go after Abby's before.

She hugged her arms to her chest in a futile attempt to keep warm. Shannon Kilbourne waved to her from across the street, and Kristy waved back, but neither of them said anything. They used to be really close, but their friendship had kind of tapered off after the Babysitter's Club had disbanded. Besides, Shannon had spent the whole summer at an expensive camp in Maine, and had come back with a deep tan and a C cup. Now she was even more perfect than before.

Sighing, Kristy turned and started walking to her house. She went around into the backdoor, and ran up the stairs to her room without being noticed. Closing the door firmly behind her, Kristy ran to her bed and curled up into a ball, clutching a pillow for comfort.

Maybe Abby was right. It wasn't really fair of her to complain about going out to dinner with her father, when Abby's dad was dead. Still, Abby's dad had been great to her, and she had every right to miss him. Her own father had abandoned her, and even though Watson lived with her, he wasn't exactly making life easy for any one right now. In away she almost envied Abby. She'd had nine years with a father who adored her. That had to count for something.

The phone on the night stand next to the bed rang, but Kristy made no move to answer it. It was probably Stacy calling for Sam anyway. A few seconds later, her mom opened the bedroom door without knocking first.

"Mary Anne's on the phone for you, kiddo," Elizabeth said.

Kristy held the pillow to her even tighter. "Tell her I'm busy."

Elizabeth furrowed her brow, and then did what Kristy had asked. "Is everything alright?" she asked Kristy.

"I had a fight with Abby."

"Don't worry about it honey. Abby is your best friend; I'm sure you'll work it out."

"Oh I'm sure everything will be fine," Kristy muttered under her breath. "Right mom?"

"That's my girl," Elizabeth said, closing the door.

Tears streamed down Kristy's face as she clutched the pillow even tighter. It was the only thing that she had to hold onto.


	13. Chapter 13

"Kristy, I want to go," David Michael whined.

Kristy adjusted her hair in the mirror. She was letting it hang loosely, instead of putting it back into her usual pony tail. She wasn't really sure why. It was hardly like she wanted to impress her father. For some reason she just felt like the night called for something a little more special.

"I know you do buddy," Kristy said, running a comb through her hair. "But mom thinks your too young, and you need to listen to her. Besides, you get to go pick up Karen and Andrew at the airport, that will be fun."

"I'm _not _too young," David Michael said pointedly, slamming a fist into the pillow beside him on Kristy's bed. "I want to go out to dinner with my dad!"

"I tried talking to mom about it already, but she wouldn't give in," Kristy said apologetically. And she had tried. She thought it was absolutely ridiculous that David Michael wasn't being permitted to come, and the fact that her mom hadn't given her a decent explanation frustrated her even more. I'm sorry David Michael."

"I'm going to go talk to Sam!" David Michael shouted, stomping out of the room. Kristy sighed and nervously tucked her hair behind her ears. It was going to be a long night.

Kristy spent the next hour nervously primping and trying to choose accessories. Much of this ended up being a waste, as she was simply not the type of girl who wore accessories, even if she was going out to dinner with her barely there father. It was during this hour that she wished that she had kept in better contact with Claudia, who had pretty much given her fashion advice her whole life.

Kristy was looking in the mirror for about the fiftieth time in the last hour, which may have been more than she had looked at it during the entire course of her life when she heard Sam call her name.

"What?" she called back.

"Come on, Charlie's going to be here in a few minutes."

"I'm coming!" Kristy called back, grabbing her jacket. As she did, she heard the junk bucket sputter into the driveway. Taking one last look in the mirror, she raced out of her bedroom and down the stairs.

"You look lovely my dear," Nannie said, as Kristy was putting her shoes on in the foyer.

"Thanks Nannie," Kristy said, her cheeks turning red. From the driveway, she heard Charlie honk the horn. This was pretty much the first time her brothers had ever been ready for anything before her.

"Have a good dinner with your father sweetie. You can tell me all about it when you get home," Nannie said, putting her hand softly on Kristy's shoulder.

"I will. Tell Karen and Andrew that I love them and I will spend some time with them when I get home tonight. Bye Nannie," Kristy shouted, running out the door.

"Bye Kristy," Nannie called

Kristy climbed into the junk bucket and settled herself into the backseat. "Hey Charlie," she said, fastening her seat belt.

"Hey Kristy," he said.

Sam and Charlie spent the entire drive to Stamford talking about which football teams were most likely to make it into the play offs this year, and then about the upcoming Stoneybrook High basketball team that was rumored to be the best team in years. Normally, Kristy would have been a central part of a conversation like this with her brothers, but tonight she found herself hanging back. She was just nervous.

After what seemed like an eternity, they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant that they were meeting Patrick at. Sam and Charlie walked in first, with Kristy lagging behind.

"Do you have reservations?" Asked the waiter as they walked in.

"Yes, under Thomas," Charlie responded politely. "Has anyone else checked in from our group yet?"

"The waiter looked at the sheet in from of him and frowned. "No, not yet. We can take you to your table while you wait for the rest of your party."

"Thank you," the siblings answered together.

The waiter led them to a small booth in front of a window. Sam and Kristy slid into one side, while Charlie sat on the other. Kristy was momentarily relived, as she really hadn't wanted to sit next to Patrick. They sat in uncomfortable silence for a moment, until Kristy couldn't take it anymore. "Why do you think mom wouldn't let David Michael come?" she asked her brothers.

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. I'm sure she thinks that what she is doing is for the best though; mom is always looking out for us. Besides, in the long run I'm sure that he'll be happier that he went to the airport to get Karen and Andrew."

Charlie furrowed his brow. "Why are Karen and Andrew coming to visit? It's the middle of the school year."

"They're coming to live with us Charlie. Don't tell me you didn't know that," Kristy said, her voice full of disbelief.

"I'm sorry I don't know every detail of what's going on at home. In case you forgot, I live at school now and I have a life there," Charlie replied.

"All the more reason to forget your family then," Kristy muttered under her breath.

"It's not that big of a deal Kristy," Sam said, defending his older brother.

"Yes it is Sam," Kristy replied, her eyes narrow. "Charlie has no idea what is going on at home. He doesn't even care."

"Relax Kristy," Charlie said. "I'll call home tomorrow and talk to all the kids for awhile. It will be fine."

"Well you better call. They might forget what you look like, but at least they will be able to hear the sound of your voice," Kristy retorted.

Charlie opened his mouth to continue the exchange when suddenly Patrick slid into the booth next to him.

"Aren't you going to say hello to your father?" Patrick asked. From his tone, Kristy could tell that he was only half joking.

"Hey dad," Charlie and Sam chorused together.

"Hi," Kristy said meekly.

"That's more like it," Patrick said smiling. "Have you ordered yet?"

The siblings shook there heads, and everyone picked up their menus and began perusing. After a few minutes, a waiter came to take their order, and the Thomas' were left to there own devices.

"How is everyone doing in school?" Patrick asked.

Kristy shrunk back in her seat as Charlie started to drone on about how wonderful everything at Boiceville State was, and how much his life had changed since entering college. When it was his turn, Sam talked more about Stacey than school, which earned a sly smile from Patrick.

"How is everything going for you Kristy?" Patrick asked. "Is your club still the most successful business in Stoneybrook?"

"We actually disbanded at the start of the school year," Kristy responded. She was about to explain why when the waiter showed up with the meal. Luckily, everyone became so consumed with their food that Patrick never asked Kristy to elaborate on what she had just said. For some reason, she didn't want to talk to him about something that was so important to her. It didn't feel right.

For a few moments no one spoke as the four of them concentrated on the meals in front of them. Eventually, Patrick broke the silence, clearing his throat.

"I'm really glad that were all able to get together tonight. Zoey and I have some exciting news, and it worked out really well that I was coming to this side of the country so I could tell you in person. Zoey wanted to be here too," Patrick added.

The Thomas siblings exchanged curious glances with each other.

"What is it Dad?" Charlie asked.

"The three of you better get excited, because you are going to have a new little brother or sister!" Patrick said smiling

Everyone was silent for a moment, before they all started talking at once. Kristy even felt herself getting excited. She loved kids, and even though she already had four brothers and two sisters, there was almost nothing as exciting as a new sibling.

Charlie and Sam both gave Patrick a high five, which Kristy took for some kind of guy ritual. She felt herself grinning from ear to ear. "When is Zoey due?" she asked.

"The end of March," Patrick replied. "I'm so glad that you are all excited about this. I knew that you would be. I'm always telling Zoey how great you kids are, and believe me, she agrees. If this new baby turns out half as great we're going to consider ourselves really lucky."

"Do you know if it is a boy or girl?" Sam asked.

Patrick shook his head. "It's too early to tell yet. Besides, we've decided that we don't want to know. We're going to be happy with anything, so we thought it would be fun to be surprised."

"Wow, I wasn't expecting this," Charlie said, smiling. "I don't think that any of us were. But I'm really excited about it. We all are," he added.

Sam and Kristy nodded in agreement.

Patrick looked around the table and grinned. "I'm a lucky man," he said. "And this baby is going to be luck as well, with three great older siblings to look up to."

"Four," Kristy corrected.

"Yeah," Sam chimed in. "Don't forget about David Michael."

Charlie looked across the table to Sam and Kristy. "David Michael is going to be really excited. You need to tell him right away when you get home."

Kristy shook her head sadly. "Now he's going to be even more angry that he didn't get to come." She looked directly at Patrick. "He should be here."

"Kristy…" Patrick said, all the happiness gone from his voice.

"It would have been nice," Sam added. "You haven't seen him in years."

"There's a reason for that, Sam," Patrick said.

Sam rolled his eyes. "I know, he's too young. That's what mom always says. But come on, I mean, he's a kid, but it's not going to hurt him to spend time with his father."

Patrick shook his head. "I know it wouldn't. But I'm not his father. David Michael is not my son.


	14. Chapter 14

Kristy's jaw dropped, and she looked worriedly at Charlie sitting across from her. Sam cleared his throat, and was the first to speak.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Patrick sighed. "I mean what I said, Sam. David Michael isn't my son."

Somehow, the words hurt Kristy even more now that Patrick had said them for a second time. She didn't understand how he could be so casual about the whole situation; couldn't he tell that her whole world was practically falling apart? Couldn't anyone?

Kristy nervously pushed her hair back behind her ears. This was the reason that she always wore ponytails. Somehow, she summoned enough courage from deep inside of her to speak.

"If you're not David Michael's father, then who is?" she asked softly.

Patrick shook his head slowly. "You're going to have to ask your mother about that."

"Let's get out of here," Sam said suddenly, shuffling his way to the end of the both. Kristy and Charlie followed suit. Patrick rose slowly as well, and shoved his hands into his pockets as the Thomas siblings put on their coats.

"Well it was nice to see you kids again," Patrick said. "I'll give you a call when Zoey and I hear more about the baby." He offered his hand to Charlie, who took the shake, while Kristy and Sam left the table and the restaurant, and waited in the cool November air outside the Junk Bucket.

After a few minutes of waiting silently, Charlie joined Kristy and Sam in the parking lot and wordlessly unlocked the doors to the car. Neither of them spoke until they had left to the parking lot and the city all together, and were truly on their way back to Stoneybrook.

Sam was the first to speak. "Wow," he said.

"Yeah," Kristy responded. There seemed to be no other words to say.

"I wonder what we should tell David Michael," Sam pondered, shaking his head. "That poor kid."

Charlie looked first at Sam, and then his eyes met Kristy's in the rearview mirror that was attached to the ceiling with duct tape. "We're not going to tell him anything, do you understand?"

"Come on Charlie, he deserves to know," Kristy argued.

Charlie shook his head firmly. "Mom's always done what she thought was best for this family. She'll tell him when the time is right."

"I'm not even so sure that I can trust mom anymore," Sam mumbled under his breath.

"Sam…" Kristy protested weakly.

"She's lied to us our whole lives," Sam went on. "If Patrick hadn't said anything tonight, we may never have found out the truth!" At this point, McClelland Drive and the Brewer mansion were coming into view. Kristy wasn't sure if she felt intimidated or relieved at the prospect of arriving home. When she thought about it, if unnamed the two emotions felt a lot alike. It was in assigning the label where the problem presented itself.

Charlie shook his head as he turned into the driveway. "She was going to tell you, she was going to tell everyone, I swear. The timing was just never right."

Sam turned to Charlie, his mouth gaping incredulously. Kristy felt the same way.

"You knew?" She asked Charlie, the words out of her mouth before she could even process the information.

Charlie stopped the car, but kept his foot on the brake and the keys in the ignition. "You guys can go in without me, I need to get back to school. Tell everyone that I said hi, and that I will try to call sometime this weekend."

Despite hearing the words of their older brother, neither Kristy nor Sam made a move to vacate the car.

"Bye," Charlie said pointedly.

"Whatever," Sam said, unlatching his seatbelt and opening the door. "And you call yourself our brother."

Kristy looked pleadingly at Charlie, who ignored her gaze, and then opened the door and ran after Sam. She caught up with him, but lost him as he went immediately upstairs to his room, while she was accosted by Karen in the entryway. Everyone else appeared to be eating in the kitchen.

"Kristy! It is Karen, your long lost sister from Chicago. Do you think that I talk with a Midwestern accent? The Midwest is the states that are in the middle of America. Did you miss me?"

"Of course I missed you Karen," Kristy said, trying to sound normal. "Why don't you go back into the kitchen with everyone else."

"I'm not allowed," Karen explained. "We were eating, and I accidentally threw a hot dog at David Michaels head. And it landed under the table, and Shannon ate it and threw up all over the rug. Shannon the dog, not your friend."

"That's great Karen," Kristy said, pushing her aside and running up the stairs. "We'll talk more later, I promise," she said over her shoulder."

Kristy ran upstairs and barged into Sam's room without bothering to knock. This was serious; she didn't have time for formalities.

"What are you doing in here?" asked Sam, who was sitting on his bed holding the phone. "I was about to call Stacey."

"That can wait, Sam," Kristy said impatiently. "We need to talk about what we're going to do about this."

"What are you talking about Kristy? It's not our call, it's mom's. We need to stay out of it."

Kristy rolled her eyes, exasperated. "We can't do that Sam. We owe it to David Michael. We need to do what is right for the family. I know that we don't really know what that is right now, but that's why we need to figure it out. We need to make things right again!"

Sam suddenly stood up from the bed angrily. "We can't fix everything, Kristy. We can't, and we're not supposed to. I don't care if Charlie did everything right his whole life, but I'm not him, and neither are you. Get out of my room, so I can call my girlfriend like a normal teenage guy."

"Come on Sam, we need to do _something_," Kristy protested weakly.

"Leave," commanded Sam, who picked up the phone again and started dialing.

"Fine," Kristy muttered, heading out the door. Once in the hallway, she could hear everyone downstairs in the kitchen, talking and laughing. Part of her wanted to go down there with them, but she didn't think that there was anyway that she could put on a smile and be normal after this dinner. She didn't really think that she could be normal after this month, Things were changing so fast she could hardly keep track of them, much less try and understand them. More anxious than ever, Kristy headed to her room. If Sam wasn't going to help her, she would have to figure things out for herself. She didn't really have a choice.

Once in her room, Kristy was still at a loss for what to do. Who was she trying to kid, anyway? Maybe Sam was right. She couldn't really do anything. This was something that was best left to her mom, the way they always had been. More than anything, she wished for one of her famous great ideas to come to her. So much for being an idea machine.

Kristy picked up the phone next to her bed, being silently thankful that Watson had installed a second line over the summer. She quickly dialed Abby's number. Even though their last conversation had been a fight, she couldn't think of any one else to call at a time like this. Abby had to be there for her. She didn't really have anyone else.

The phone rang five times, and she was about to hang up when finally someone picked up on the other line.

"Hey, this is Abby."

"Hey. It's Kristy."

"Oh," came Abby's response on the other end. Nothing but silence followed.

"Can you come over? I just came back from dinner with my dad, and… I guess I just really need to talk about it. Please?" Kristy asked.

Kristy was greeted by silence again. Finally, Abby responded. "I don't think I can."

"Abby, come on. I just really need to talk to someone," Kristy pleaded.

"I can't. I'm sorry, but I can't. It hurts to much to listen to you complain about everything that your dad did, and everything that he doesn't do, when I don't even have a dad that can do anything for me. You have no idea what that feels like, and you never will. You can feel free to call me when you have something else to talk about."

With that Abby hung up the phone, leaving Kristy cradling the receiver on her end. After a few moments she hung up, slamming the phone down. Still unsatisfied, she kicked her nightstand for good measure, causing her alarm clock to fall to the floor. She ignored this, and fell to her bed where she curled up with a pillow, letting the tears fall freely when she heard a knock at her door.

"Kristy? Can I come in?"

Kristy did her best to wipe away the tears on her sleeve. "Come in."

"I heard quite the commotion coming from in here," Elizabeth observed. "I guess dinner with Patrick didn't go so well?"

"It went fine," Kristy said defensively, clutching the pillow tighter.

"You can tell me if it didn't, you know."

More than anything, Kristy wanted to tell her mom what Patrick had said, and have her deny it, and say that he was lying. But something inside her told her that was not the case. Besides, Charlie had pretty much confirmed everything that Patrick had said. She hated to believe that he had been hiding this from her and Sam all of these years. Despite everything, she had always been happy with her family. Now things were just falling apart.

"It's nothing, mom. Dinner was fine. I just had a fight with Abby on the phone, and that's why I'm upset," Kristy hated lying to her mom, but tried not to care. After all, her mom had been lying to her for years. She just couldn't bring herself to talk to her mom about everything now. She needed to have a plan.

"Don't worry about it sweetie. You and Abby are great friends. I'm sure that things will look better in the morning," Elizabeth said

Kristy sighed. "I hope so."

Elizabeth gently rubbed Kristy's shoulder and left the room, closing the door behind her. Kristy climbed under the covers, and closed her eyes. Even though she would wake up to everything tomorrow, she could escape into sleep for the night.


	15. Chapter 15

"Cowabunga!"

Kristy awoke with a start, shooting up into a sitting position as she felt her bed shake.

"Help, I'm drowning in the deep end," Karen cried, her arms waving as she flayed around on the comforter.

Kristy groaned. "What are you doing, Karen?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"I'm playing a game with Andrew and David Michael," she explained nodding to their siblings who were standing in the doorway. "You can play too if you want."

"No, I don't want to play," Kristy grumbled. Karen had been home for just over eighteen hours, and already she was silently willing her back to Chicago. "Please get out of my room."

"Okay, but just so you know, I saw Morbidda Destiny put a spell on you!" Karen ran out of the room, David Michael and Andrew following close behind her.

Looking at the clock, Kristy saw that it was past ten. Maybe it was a good thing that the kids had woken her up. Her stomach was fluttered as she thought of everything that was going on in her life. She has no idea how to handle any of it. A year ago, she would have had a solution for every problem, probably in bullet points on an alphabetized list. But that was the old Kristy, and as much as she hated to admit it, that's not who she was anymore.

She wasn't sure why, or how she had changed. She figured that it was something about the magnitudes of the problems that she was now facing. She smiled wistfully when she thought of last year. She had taken the Babysitter's Club very seriously, but looking back she could see that even the mysteries they had solved hadn't been as problematic as they originally though. Now they seemed like nothing, whereas she was filled with dread when she thought about even beginning to resolve her current situation. Everything was so far out of her reach.

But she had to do something. And if her brothers weren't going to help her, she was going to find out on her own.

She knew that she couldn't be totally alone, though. She just wasn't as strong as she used to be. She had to make up with Abby, first. Alone, she knew that they were both mostly alone and scared, but together, they could be strong.

Kristy pulled herself out of bed, took a shower, and got herself ready for the day. Already that weekend was half over. She hadn't even thought of her homework and everything that she had to do for school; she had so many more important things going on.

She sighed. It was going to be a long day.

An hour later she had showered, dressed, and had eaten a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and an apple for a late breakfast. She now sat in the living room listlessly staring out the window in the direction of Abby's house. She knew that she had to make up with her best friend. She just wasn't sure, how exactly, mostly because she didn't really know what was wrong. Sighing, she got up and walked out the door and across the lawn to Abby's. Her heart pounding a little bit harder than normal, she rang the doorbell. She normally didn't knock when she went to the Stevenson's, but today it just didn't seem right to let herself in. The late autumn air was cold as she waited on the porch.

"I'm coming," Abby shouted from inside the house. Kristy heard her running down the stairs.

Abby opened the door. "Oh. It's you," she said, her words hanging in the air.

"I need your help Abby. Please," Kristy pleaded.

Abby's face softened. "Come in," she said, opening the door.

The two girls stood awkwardly in the entryway, neither of them saying anything.

"We can go upstairs, if you want," Abby offered.

Kristy nodded, and the two made their way up to Abby's room. As they got to the hallway, Abby sprinted ahead, ran into her room, and closed the door behind her. "Just a second," she called.

Waiting in the hallway, Kristy rolled her eyes. She didn't have time for whatever Abby was doing. What was she doing, anyway? She could hear the closet door opening and closing. A few moments later Abby opened the door wordlessly. Walking into the room, Kristy didn't notice anything amiss, and immediately dismissed whatever questions she had. She sat down on Abby's bed.

"Patrick isn't David Michael's real father," she said quietly.

"What?" Abby asked, shocked. She sat down on the bed next to Kristy. "Then who is?"

"I don't know," Kristy said, shaking her head. "He told us when we were at dinner last night. He wouldn't tell us who really was. But that's not even the worst part!"

"Then what is?" Abby asked incredulously.

"Charlie knew about this all along, I guess. But he wouldn't say anything either. He went back to his stupid school as soon as he dropped off Sam and I."

"How can you stand not knowing? You're going to talk to your mom about it, right?" Abby asked.

"I want to," Kristy admitted, "but Charlie told us not to bother her about it, and Sam is no help. But I need to know the truth. And I think that David Michael does too."

Abby nodded sympathetically. "Parent's think that they are protecting us by keeping secrets, but it usually doesn't work out that way."

Kristy fell back on Abby's bed. "I just don't know what to do."

"You need to talk to your mom," Abby said, her voice suddenly confidant. "Even if you have to do it by yourself."

"Are you sure?" Kristy asked hesitantly.

"Of course I'm sure!" Abby replied. "And you should probably do it right now. The longer that you wait, the harder it will become. I'll walk you out."

Abby rose up off the bed and held out her hand to pull Kristy up. She accepted, and the two walked out of the room and downstairs. Standing again in the entryway, Abby reached out and gave her friend a hug."

"You can do it," she said.

Kristy left the Stevenson's and walked across the year back to her house. She knew that she had to talk to her mom right away, but she still was a little hesitant about doing it alone. She decided to try talking to Sam one more time. He was her brother, after all. He would help.

Walking into the house and upstairs, she knocked hard on Sam's door, earning curious stares from her younger siblings who were gathered together in Karen's room. When no one answered, she knocked again, harder still.

Suddenly, Karen stood beside her in the hallway. "Sam's not in his room," she informed Kristy. "He went to the movies with Stacey."

"Thanks, Karen," Kristy said, trying to be as nice as she could. At least Karen was being useful instead of annoying for once. Either way, though, it didn't really matter. Sam wasn't home, and she needed to talk to her mom right away. If she didn't now, she didn't know if she ever would.

Mentally coaxing herself, she through the open doorway and into her mom and Watson's room. Her mom was folding laundry on the bed.

"Mom, can I talk to you?" Kristy asked, almost hesitantly.

"Of course honey," Elizabeth said, setting down the shirt that she was folding. "Is this about your fight with Abby?"

"No…" Kristy said, trailing off. She wasn't exactly sure where to begin.

Elizabeth reached out and put her hand softly on Kristy's shoulder. "You know that you can talk to me about anything, sweetie. I know that things haven't been the greatest around here lately, but I think that everything is about to come together. I want to listen to whatever it is that you have to say."

"It's about Patrick," Kristy said hesitantly

Elizabeth softened. "I could tell when you and Sam came back last night that dinner hadn't gone well. What happened?"

Kristy took a deep breath. "He said that he's not David Michael's father. Is that true?"

All the color quickly drained from Elizabeth's face, and she sank down to the bed slowly. She obviously hadn't been in any way prepared for this to come up.

Kristy's heart started to flutter. Maybe this hadn't been a good idea. "Are you okay mom?"

"Please leave," Elizabeth said, in what was almost nothing more than a gasp for air.

"Mom? What do you mean?"

"Leave," Elizabeth said, this time with more command in her voice. "I will talk to you about this, I promise. But I can't do it right now. Go to your room."

"Okay mom. Sure." Kristy left the room hurt and confused. She walked across the hall to her room and closed the door behind her. She wasn't quite sure what to do with herself, or what to make of what had just happened. For whatever reason, she didn't want to call Abby and talk to her about it. And she wasn't sure if she was supposed to leave her room or not. It wasn't like she was being punished, but still, she felt that she better stay put for a little while. Resigned, Kristy sat down at her desk, and pulled various notebooks and textbooks out of her backpack. She might as well get to the homework that she had been neglecting as of late. Besides, concentrating on something other than what was going on would probably be the best thing for her to do right now.

Kristy began to work ardently on her homework, which was somewhat reminiscent of the hard working student that she had been last year, before everything had started to fall apart. Honestly, it felt kind of good to slip into this pattern again. There was definitely comfort in routine. While she was working on some math equations, she heard a soft knock on her door, which was then opened by Nannie.

"Can I come in?"

Kristy nodded, and sat up straight in her desk chair.

Nannie closed the door behind her and sat down on Kristy's bed. "Oh honey, won't you come and sit with me?"

Kristy complied, and sat next to Nannie who put her arm around her. This small action already made Kristy feel the smallest bit better.

"It's been hard around here lately, hasn't it?" Nannie asked.

Kristy nodded as she felt tears starting to fall down her face. She hadn't even realized that she had been crying.

"Your mom sent me in here to talk to you," Nannie continued. "You know that she loves you and your brothers more than anything, right?" Kristy nodded, and Nannie went on. "She always did what she thought was best for you, as most parents do. Sometimes, in looking back, the best decisions weren't made, of course. But know that your mother did everything she could to protect you, and to keep you from being hurt. She really did try."

"I know that," Kristy said softly, wiping tears away with the sleeve of her shirt.

"You're mom isn't up to talking to you about everything. Not today. So she sent me. You can ask me anything you like."

"Is it true that Patrick isn't David Michael's father?" Kristy asked.

Nannie nodded her head slowly. "Yes, that's true."

"Then who is?"Kristy asked.

Nannie closed her eyes for a moment, and then let out a slow breath. "Watson."


	16. Chapter 16

Kristy shook her head. "That's not possible. Mom didn't even meet Watson until I was twelve, which means that David Michael would have been six. It's not possible. "

Nannie reached over and put both arms around Kristy, and started slowly rocking her back and forth. "Honey, you are certainly a responsible young woman, but there's a lot that you don't know yet about the ways of the world."

Kristy knew she might not know much about the ways of the world, but the pieces were starting to fall into place, putting together a picture that she in no way wanted to see. "Is that why Patrick left in the first place? Because mom had a baby with someone else?"

"Nothing is ever really that simple. Your mother and father were having problems before you were even born. That marriage simply wasn't meant to last."

Despite Nannie's ambiguous answers, Kristy was hearing everything that she was leaving out. "_Your mother cheated on your father, not the other way around. He left because she was pregnant with someone else's child. Your mom and Watson kept everything a secret. You have been lied to all of your life."_

Kristy had heard enough. Almost. There was one more thing that she had to find out to complete the mess that her family had become. "Does Charlie know?"

Nannie sighed, and nodded again. "He was old enough to know that something wasn't right from the beginning. And your mother depended on him, especially in the beginning, to help take care of things. He needed to know, Kristy. We were just trying to protect you."

"I think I need to be alone for a little while," Kristy said, her voice thick with tears.

"I understand," Nannie said simply, rising off the bed. "Kristy, if you could, please don't mention this to your brothers and sisters just yet. I promise you that in time, everything will come out…but we have enough going on here right now. "

Kristy didn't respond, and instead turned away from Nannie, curling herself into a ball on her bed.

"I love you, Kristy," Nannie said as she closed the door. "And so does your mother."

Alone the tears came fast and free, and Kristy cried as she made long and hard. She continued to connect the dots, more lies becoming clear. "_David Michael is only your half brother. Charlie knew all along, and he lied to you along with everybody else. David Michael and Karen are only months apart, which means that Watson was cheating on Lisa while your mom was cheating on Patrick. This has been going on for years and you never even had a clue. Everyone lied." _

Climbing out of bed, Kristy sat at her desk and once again attempted to make some headway on her homework. It was such a relief to have a tangible problem to work on, where the solution was within her grasp. Blocking out everything else that was going through her head, she worked throughout the rest of the afternoon, catching up on everything that she had been assigned, and even getting ahead on her readings in English. She didn't even look at her clock, or realize that it was after six, until Karen flung open her bedroom door.

"It is dinnertime," Karen announced.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Kristy asked, angrily throwing down her pencil.

Karen shrugged. "Daddy said to come and get you. He did not say that I had to knock. If you do not come down and eat with us, can I have your sandwich?"

"I don't care, Karen, get out of here.

Karen slammed the door, her footsteps echoing in the hallway."Fine, you big meanie-mo. I'm eating your sandwich!"

Kristy remained at her desk, slouching in her chair, and listlessly looking at her homework. All of her drive had been lost in Karen's interruption, and her problems came rushing back.

A few minutes later Kristy stood up. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't sit alone in her room all night. Opening her door and stepping in the hallway, she almost bumped into Nannie.

"I was just coming to get you, sweetie," Nannie said lovingly, putting her hand at the small of Kristy's back. "A nice family dinner will do you a lot of good."

Kristy wasn't so sure of that. She wasn't too sure if anything would do her any good right about now. But she knew that she should go down for the benefit of the kids. They needed some form of familial stability. Besides, she was hungry.

The commotion was evident when Kristy walked into the kitchen with Nannie. Mealtimes at the Thomas-Brewer's were certainly never dull. The more things change, the more things stay the same. Sh was scanning the kitchen, and then suddenly whipped around to look Nannie in the eyes.

"Where's mom?" she demanded.

Nannie sighed. Her face looked older than it had even a month ago. "She's tired, sweetie. You understand, don't you?"

Kristy didn't understand. Deliberately not answering Nannie, she proceeded to her seat on the bench alongside the kitchen table.

"What's wrong with you?" Sam asked between bites of his sandwich.

"Nothing that you would care about," Kristy replied testily.

Sam shrugged. Apparently the revelations of dinner last night did not have as significant of an effect on his life as they did hers. "Hey David Michael, toss me an apple."

David Michael grinned, reached into the fruit basket that was sitting in front of him, and threw a red apple across the table to his older brother. "Heads up!" he shouted. Seeing this, Karen quickly reached into the same basket and threw an apple into the living room. Shannon bolted out from under the table and ran after it. Emily Michelle squealed with delight at the commotion occurring at the table.

Andrew reached for an apple himself, when Watson finally intervened. "That's enough kids. Dinner doesn't need to be a circus just because Elizabeth isn't feeling well."

As said this, Kristy couldn't help but notice a quick but intentionally hurtful glare in her direction from Watson. Apparently he knew that her mom wasn't feeling well as a direct result from her confessions to Kristy. But she didn't even care if Watson was mad at her. He was a possible alcoholic who had definitely lied to her, and the rest of her family, her whole life. He had a son at this table who he hadn't even claimed. Suddenly, Kristy wasn't very hungry any more. She put her fork down and watched the rest of her family eating, wondering how it was possible that the friendly camaraderie that she was witnessing was possible when this family was slowly unraveling.

"Can we have ice cream for dessert?? David Michael asked.

Nannie's brow creased in thought. "I don't think that we have any in the freezer."

"Then can we go out and get some? Please Daddy?" Karen whined.

"Yeah, please Watson," David Michael begged, while Andrew nodded his head eagerly.

"Well I don't know," Watson said, pretending to think very hard about the prospect. "What do you think Emily?"

"I want ice cream!" she shouted gleefully.

"Then ice cream it is!" Watson said, throwing his napkin on the table. "Come on, kids!"

David Michael, Karen, Andrew, and Emily Michelle all got up from the table and ran to the closet to retrieve their jackets and shoes, noisily chattering about what flavor they were going to get, and who could eat the most.

"You'll clean up, right?" Watson asked, directing the question at Nannie.

"Don't I always?" she replied, resigned.

"Of course. Thank You." Watson responded. He then directed his gaze at Kristy and Sam, who were the only ones remaining at the vacated family table. "You two are welcome to come for some ice cream, if you would like."

"Thanks Watson, but I'm going to hang out with Stacey tonight," Sam said, rising from the table.

"Well have fun," Watson said slyly. "What about you, Kristy? Are you up for ice cream with the family?"

Kristy stood up from the table, glaring intently at Watson the whole time. How could he act so normal, and so nice, after everything that he had done. It disgusted her to see him act in any way fatherly. She refused to answer his question, walking out of the kitchen and upstairs to her room.

Sam stopped her at her bedroom door. "You don't need to be a jerk to Watson just because you're mad at Patrick," he said.

"And you don't have to forget about this family just because you're so _in love_ with Stacey," Kristy retorted.

"Kristy, I am so sick of you. Life isn't like your stupid babysitting club, and you can't call all the shots. Maybe mom screwed up, and maybe Patrick screwed up, but it's not like they did it on purpose, and it was years ago, so get over it. And don't take it out on Watson- he's never been anything but good to us."

It was Sam's last statement that enraged Kristy more than anything, and she took a hard step forward, and shoved Sam with all of her might into the wall. He fell back against a picture, which fell to the ground.

Fury filled Sam's face as he hit the wall. Pulling himself up, he ran forward and pushed Kristy against her bedroom door, which has been partially open. Kristy fell into her room and landed in a heap on the ground. "I hate you!" she shouted at Sam.

Hearing the commotion in the hallway, Elizabeth left her room and approached her children. Clad in a bathrobe, with her hair a mess, she sighed. "What the hell is going on here?"


	17. Chapter 17

"Nothing mom," Sam said quickly, "Kristy is just being stupid."

"I am not!" Kristy shouted, pulling herself to her feet to defend herself.

Elizabeth slumped against the door frame. "Either way, this behavior is unacceptable. I need to rest right now, and I would appreciate it if the two of you could act like adults. Is that too much to ask?"

"No mom, sorry," Sam said sheepishly. "I was just about to leave, anyway. I'm going to hang out with Stacey tonight. Sorry Kristy."

With that, Sam left the room, leaving Elizabeth and Kristy alone. Kristy was very wary of everything that her mother was saying and doing, and was standing on guard herself, not knowing what was going to happen next.

"Honestly Kristy, I expected more out of you."

Kristy had thought herself prepared for anything, but she found herself shocked at what had just come out of her mother's mouth.

"You've always been mature and responsible," Elizabeth continued. "And you knew how hard I worked your whole life to give you everything that you needed. Why must you now attack me by throwing my past in my face?

"You lied to me! You lied to me, and Sam, and David Michael all of our lives! You're still lying to us!"

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed as she folded her arms across her chest. "You don't know the first thing about what you are talking about, young lady."

"That's because you never told me!" Kristy screamed, her voice heavy with tears.

"Do you want to know the truth?" Elizabeth demanded, "Is that what you want?"

"Yes!" Kristy shouted.

"Your father was a good for nothing low life- I never lied to you about that! Do you think he could have supported us like Watson has on a _sports writer's_ salary? I met Watson at a baseball game. It was your fifth birthday, actually," Elizabeth said, her voice softening slightly."Patrick stayed in the bleachers with you kids while I went to get nachos and hot dogs. Watson was getting a diet soda for Lisa. We bumped into each other, and he almost spilled it on me. I never would have imagined how my life would change from that moment on."

"We started meeting shortly after that," Elizabeth continued. "Patrick was always away covering some sort of sporting event for often days at a time. I was all alone with three small children. You've got to understand that that wasn't easy."

Kristy nodded almost imperceptibly, though of course she didn't understand at all. As much as it hurt, she needed her mother go on.

"A few months later, a realized that I was pregnant. I knew that it couldn't have been your father's…we were having problems long before I met Watson, and the nights he was home he slept on the sofa."

Hearing her mother admit to cheating on father made Kristy wince. She leaned back against the wall, not trusting her ability to hold herself up.

"I see that look you're giving me. Before you judge me know that your father had someone else, too. He wasn't exactly spending those business trips alone. Kristy, we both failed," Elizabeth said, her voice stammering.

Kristy brushed a tear back as she listened to her mother continue.

"Watson, of course promised to support me. He knew that we were destined to be together. But the timing wasn't exactly right. Lisa had just discovered that she was pregnant, and Watson couldn't leave her like that- what kind of man would that make him? So we continued our secret."

"Patrick found out, eventually," Elizabeth continued "He left for good shortly after David Michael was born, which you know. Just when Watson was set to leave Lisa for good, she became pregnant again, with Andrew, and he was stuck for a little while longer. We waited until Karen was five and Andrew was three, and then he and Lisa were over, officially. We started dating, if you could call it that, and it was the next year we were married. You know the rest."

"When did Charlie find out?" Kristy asked meekly.

"He was old enough to know from almost the beginning. We tried to hide it from him, and failed. But he was happy enough to support me if it was in the best interest of the family. Are you happy now?" Elizabeth asked bitterly.

"I don't think I can ever think of Watson the same way," Kristy said softly.

"You ungrateful little witch," Elizabeth hissed. "Don't you realize everything that Watson has done for you? You live in a mansion! My indiscretions aside, your father left us, and didn't contact you or your brothers for years. I never saw a dime of child support from him! Do you really think that I was supporting for children on what I was being paid? I couldn't have fed the four of you on my salary! Watson paid for everything, from the roof over your head to your precious softball lessons. He didn't even want me to work, but we both knew that we had to keep up the façade. So maybe you should think about that when you think about your stepfather."

Kristy swallowed hard, not really knowing what to say. None of her parents were who she thought them to be.

Downstairs the door slammed, and the voices of David Michael, Karen, Andrew, and Emily Michelle rang in the entryway.

Elizabeth closed her eyes and put her hand on her forehead. "I can't handle this- I need to rest. Don't even think of breathing a word of this to your siblings."

With that Elizabeth walked to her room and closed the door. Kristy was about to do the same when Emily Michelle ran up to her and tugged on her shirt.

"Will you color with me?" She asked sweetly.

Kristy wiped away the last of her tears with her sleeve. She bent down and enveloped her littlest sister in a hug. "Of course I'll color with you, Emily."

Emily Michelle took Kristy's hand and led to the upstairs playroom. Together they sat down on the miniature chairs and colored in Emily's Mickey Mouse coloring book. Emily Michelle chattered happily about getting ice cream with Watson and the other kids.

Kristy smiled watching her little sister gleefully color. Her whole family was such a confusing mess, and she didn't even know it. All she knew is that she had so many people to love her, and that was enough. Kristy wished that that could be enough for her. Was it even possible to forgive her mom, Watson, and Patrick for that matter? And if she could, would that make a difference?

"I'm done!" Emily Michelle proclaimed. "Do you like my picture?"

"It's beautiful, Emily," Kristy replied, smiling at Emily Michelle's futile attempts to stay in the lines. "You should go show that to Nannie."

"Okay," said Emily Michelle, running out of the room.

Kristy looked down at her half colored page that she head listlessly been working on. She then looked up, and thought about the very playroom that she was sitting in, along with the numerous other bedrooms on this floor, and the mansion in general. Her mom was right about one thing: Watson certainly had provided for their family. But did that make up for all the lies? Could anything?

Kristy looked at her watch. It was just after 7:30, and had certainly been a long day. It seemed like ages since she had been at Abby's house this morning. Speaking of which, Abby was probably waiting on an update. And to be honest, Kristy knew that she could use a comforting talk with her best friend.

Seconds after deciding to talk to Abby, Kristy was up and running. She stopped by her room to grab a jacket, flew down the stairs and out the door, ignoring Nannie, who was attempting to get the kids upstairs to get ready for bed. She didn't tell anyone where she was going, but figured that no one would notice her absence. Besides, she always went to Abby's- or she used to, anyway.

Kristy ran across the lawns, up the steps, and attempted to open to the door. It was locked; so she retrieved the spare key that was hidden under the welcome mat. The first floor was dark, as usual, and she ran upstairs to Abby's room. Without knocking she opened the door and gasped.

Abby was on her bed, making out with Bart Taylor, her twin sister's boyfriend.


	18. Chapter 18

"Abby!" Kristy shouted, horrified. "What are you doing?"

Abby and Bart quickly pulled away from each other. Abby sat up, while Bart removed himself from the bed entirely, standing up and trying to smooth out his clothes.

"What the hell is your problem, Thomas?" Bart asked angrily.

"How did you get in here "Abby demanded, "I locked the door!"

Kristy rolled her eyes. "Well then maybe you should have hidden the spare key, _which I use all the time_ more cleverly."

"You can't just come in here whenever you want, you know," Abby spat out.

"That is besides the point, and you know it," Kristy retorted. She turned to Bart. "Where's your girlfriend? Does she know about your extra curricular activities with her sister?"

Bart turned a dark shade of red. "She's over at the Kilbourne's watching a movie with Shannon. Please don't tell her," he begged.

"Get out of here, Bart," Kristy said disgustedly.

Bart turned to look at Abby, "I'll see you later," he mumbled.

Bart left the room, and Kristy could hear his footsteps pounding down the stairs, and then finally the front door slammed shut. She and Abby were now alone. Maybe it was the day that she had had, but Kristy couldn't find any compassion in her for her best friend. Weather she liked it or not, she was in attack mode.

"How could you?" Kristy shrieked.

"Are you mad because you used to have a thing with Bart?" Abby asked, confused.

"He's your sister's boyfriend! He just _cheated_ on her with you! Don't you realize what you've done?"

"Okay, you need to chill out. It's not a big deal, we were just making out. As long as it never happens again, Anna doesn't have to know."

"Not a big deal?" Kristy asked, becoming frenzied. "Of course it's a big deal! You have to tell Anna right away! She has to know!"

Abby crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm not going to tell Anna anything, and neither are you. You're my best friend, Kristy."

"Don't call me that! You don't deserve the right to consider me your friend at all. We are through, Abigail Stevenson!"

With that Kristy ran out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the house. She kept running until she was across the street and standing on the Kilbourne's porch. Taking a deep breath, she rang the doorbell. She knew what she had to do.

A few moments later, Tiffany Kilbourne answered the door. "Hi Kristy," she said, somewhat confused. Though Kristy was friendly with the Kilbourne girls, and even occasionally babysat for Maria, she didn't come over that often.

"Bart said that Anna was here watching a movie with Shannon. I need to talk to her," Kristy said, pushing past Tiffany into the entryway. "Where are they?"

Tiffany looked at Kristy strangely. "They're upstairs, in Shannon's room. You can go right up, I guess."

"Thanks Tiffany," Kristy yelled over her shoulder, rushing up the stairs. She was about to burst right into Shannon's room, but thinking better of it, she knocked instead. And knocked again.

"Coming," Shannon said from inside her bedroom. She opened the door, "Kristy?" she asked, her brow furrowing.

"I need to talk to Anna," Kristy explained, stepping into Shannon's bedroom.

"Okay…" Shannon said quizzically.

"Hey Kristy, what's up?" Anna asked, confused. "Is this about Abby? Is she okay?"

Shannon sat down on the bed next to Anna, while Kristy remained standing, not quite sure what to do with herself. "It's about Abby. She's okay, but I need to tell you something. And you're not going to want to hear it."

"What is it?" Anna asked cautiously.

"I went to your house tonight to talk to Abby," Kristy stammered. Suddenly she wasn't so sure that she wanted to be the one to tell Anna this. But she had to finish what she had started. "I went over to talk to Abby," Kristy said again. "And I let myself in. Like I always do."

"Go on." Anna said, taking a deep breath.

"I found Abby with Bart. They were making out in her room."

Anna made a strangled noise, and collapsed into Shannon's arms.

"I'm sorry," Kristy said weakly

"Don't worry about it. It was the right thing to do- she needed to know," Shannon offered. "I'll take care of her."

"Thanks," Kristy said. "Bye Anna."

With that, Kristy left Shannon's room, and walked down the stairs and out the door, waving good-bye to Tiffany and Maria. She descended the porch, but stopped when she found herself on the sidewalk. She had left her own house less than an hour ago, and wasn't too sure if she wanted to go back just yet. The problem was that she didn't really have anywhere else that she could go.

Resigned, Kristy crossed the street and walked up her driveway. She couldn't really stay out too late anyway, she had school the next day. And she hadn't exactly told anyone where she was going when she left. Kristy went in the back way, in the hopes that she could escape up to her room unnoticed. Walking in, she noticed that the first floor was dark: a good sign. She second floor was quiet as well, the kids were either sleeping already or just settling down for bed. She quietly let herself into her bedroom, and once she was inside, breathed a sigh of relief.

She quickly changed into her pajamas and took her hair out its ponytail. Catching a sight of herself in the mirror she could tell that she looked horrible. She went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth and washed her face, suddenly finding herself exhausted. Walking from the bathroom back to her bedroom, Kristy heard voices and stopped.

"Well what was I supposed to tell her?" She heard her mother ask, exasperated. "You know how stubborn Kristy is- she wasn't going to let up on me until she knew everything!"

"She's a child, Elizabeth!" Watson bellowed back. "Make something up to pacify her- it's not that difficult!"

"I don't want to lie to her anymore! I can't! I don't want my own daughter to hate me!" Elizabeth cried.

"Well what are we going to do when she starts talking to Sam about this? David Michael and Karen are going to find out for sure- then what are we going to do?"

Elizabeth's voice was slightly softer now. "Maybe it's time that all of the kids knew that truth."

"I can't believe you, Edie," Watson said disgustedly. "Do you really think that's an option?"

"I told you not to call me that!" Elizabeth shouted, "And yes, I do think that is an option. And so does my mother. She threatened to move out if I didn't tell Kristy the truth- and we need her around here!"

"For the love of God, Elizabeth, it's not like we can't get a maid. No more is going to come of this- you can tell your mother that. And I will personally have a talk with Kristy to make sure that she won't be spreading this around to her brothers and sisters, if she hasn't already. Do you understand me?"

Kristy felt her whole body stiffen when she heard the last part of Watson's response. She didn't want to talk to him about any of this, especially in the state that he was in now. She took a deep breathe and continued to listen.

"I just don't see why it has to be like this," Elizabeth said. Kristy could tell that she was now speaking through tears.

"Because I make the rules around here!" Watson sneered. "I'm going out for a drink- don't wait up."

Hearing this, Kristy darted into her bedroom and jumped into her bed, and pretended to be asleep. This was made difficult be the rapid rate at which her heart was beating- she feared that if anyone entered the room they would surely be able to hear it. She had left the door open a crack, but she could no longer hear what her mom and Watson were saying, although she could tell that they were still arguing. A few minutes later, a sliver of light entered her room, and she heard Watson open the door of the master bedroom and make his way downstairs. Leaping out of bed, she watched him back out of the driveway and make his way down the street. She followed the lights of his car until he turned of McLelland Rd and was no longer in sight. She sat down on her bed, momentarily relieved.

Creeping out into the hallway, she saw that the light was turned off in her mom and Watson's bedroom. Kristy got as close to the door as she dared, but couldn't hear anything. She went back into her bedroom, emotionally drained, and collapsed into her bed. Burrowing herself under the covers, she eventually fell to sleep.


	19. Chapter 19

The harsh brightness of her bedroom light being turned on suddenly brought Kristy out of a fitful slumber. The clock on her bedside table read 2:17am. What was going on?

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," a voice sneered.

"Watson?" Kristy asked groggily, sitting up in bed.

"Won't you call me 'Daddy'?" Watson asked jeeringly, stalking across the room to the edge of Kristy's bed. As he came closer she could smell alcohol heavy on his breath. "After all, I've provided for you your whole life. It's the least you could do."

"What are you doing in my room?" Kristy asked. She was very confused and starting to get scared. She didn't even have enough strength to fake her usual bravado.

An angry look flashed across Watson's face. "Your room?" he sneered. '"This is my house, and my room, and I can come in it any time that I damn well please. But just because you asked, I've got a few things that I need to talk to you about, _young lady._" He spat out the last two words.

"What is it?" Kristy asked timidly, even though she mostly knew. A feeling of cold dread rose from the pit of her stomach.

"I know that your mother told you everything about the past. Everything that she thinks you _deserve _to know. Your mother is a weak woman; she has been her whole life. She would be nothing without me, and without my money. And the same thing goes for all you kids, do you understand?"

Terrified, Kristy nodded slowly. A scream lodged itself in the back of her throat, but she was unable to let it escape.

Watson sat down on the bed, as close as he could to Kristy, who sat at the head of the bed, clutching her knees to her chest, making herself as small as possible. She silently prayed that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her or anyone else that night.

"If you breath a word of this to any of your siblings, I will make you live to regret the day that you were born. Do you understand me?" Without waiting for Kristy to respond, Watson continued. "Actually, I will make you live to regret the day that your mother met me."

"You mean nothing to me." Watson spat out. "I do what I do for you to appease your mother, and for no other reason. I can be rid of you in a second. Someone with my money always has options," he said with a slight snicker.

Tears welled up in Kristy's eyes but she said nothing. Her mind was literally blank, and her heart felt as though it had stopped beating. It was almost as if it was just a shell of her on her bed, in her room. She couldn't really be experiencing this.

"Quit your crying," Watson said, disgusted. "I thought that you were supposed to be tough. It was the one thing that I always liked about you."

"I am," Kristy said, strangled, her voice barely above a whisper. She wiped the tears that had fallen with the sleeve of her t-shirt. No new tears formed.

"Good. Prove it." Watson got up from the bed, much to Kristy's relief, and walked across the room to the door. "You better not go crying about this to your mother or you precious Nannie," he sneered. "As far as they are concerned, this little chat never happened. Do you understand?"

Again, Kristy nodded.

"Good." Watson replied. "Don't forget anything that I've told you," he said, turning off the light and closing the door.

Sitting in the newly darkened room, Kristy let out an audible sigh of relief. She wasn't sure if she had ever been so scared in her entire life. There was no longer any doubt in her mind of the make up of Watson's character. She had no idea how a man who had been so kind to her for so long could say such hurtful things.

Despite what had just happened, Kristy couldn't hate Watson, even though she almost wanted to. Aside from the last month he had always treated her with kindness. He had even paid to take her friends in the Babysitter's Club on vacation on more than one occasion! Also, what he said tonight had a lot of truth to it, he had supported her and her family for almost her entire life. He must care about her to do that, at least a little bit. Maybe it was just the alcohol talking. Kristy was a good person. She couldn't bring herself to believe that what she had just seen in Watson was his true self. She had had too many beliefs shattered in the last few weeks, and she didn't want to add another to the list.

But still, there was no way of denying the magnitude of what had just happened. Watson's drinking was quickly getting worse and worse, and the incidents this caused at home were becoming more terrifying. She was literally terrified. And the worse thing was that she had no one to talk it over with. She couldn't bring this to her mom or Nannie for fear of repercussion from Watson. And after what had happened earlier that evening with Abby she didn't even want to see her again for a long time, much less talk to her about something so important.

Even though she needed to desperately.

Kristy again looked over to the clock on her bedside table. It was not 2:31am. The whole encounter with Watson had taken about ten minutes, even though it had felt like an eternity.

Not knowing what else to do, Kristy lay down and rested her head upon her pillow. She curled up on her side and remained that way until she eventually fell asleep.

--------------------------

Morning came too quickly, and Kristy awoke to the sound of her alarm. She turned it off, and lay in bed as the events of the previous night came back to her. There was no way that she could go to school that day.

Kristy lay in bed listening to the hubbub of her brother's and sister's getting ready for school. After about twenty minutes Nannie opened the door.

"Are you awake, sweetie?" she asked. "You're going to have to get moving if you want to catch the bus. Although I have been known to give rides to my favorite grandchildren," she said, her voice softening.

"I'm not feeling well," Kristy said, which was only half a lie. Everything that had happened over the past weekend had made her sick to her stomach.

"Oh you poor thing," Nannie said. "Emily Michelle isn't feeling well either. You go back to sleep, and when you wake up, I'll make you my special get well breakfast. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great," Kristy said. And it really did sound great. It was so nice to have someone taking care of her. She could always depend on Nannie.

"You get your rest, sweetheart. Let me know if you need anything."

Nannie quietly left the room, leaving Kristy alone again. Not knowing what else to do, Kristy followed Nannie's advice and closed her eyes as to go back to sleep.

Kristy awoke several hours later, and sat up in bed, slowly rubbing her eyes. Sunlight poured into the room through the window, creating a cheery atmosphere. It was quiet upstairs, though she could hear Emily watching cartoons on the television in the playroom. Feeling at least somewhat ready to face the day, she got out of bed and proceeded downstairs for the breakfast that Nannie had promised her.

Walking downstairs, she heard some noise in the entryway. Puzzled, she walked that way to investigate. She found Nannie snapping a suitcase shut, tears in her eyes.

"Oh good, you're up," Nannie said as Kristy walked toward her. "You're going to have to take care of Emily Michelle today. I'm sorry to have to do this to you when you don't feel well already, Kristy."

"Do what?" Kristy asked, confused. "Nannie, what's going on?"

Nannie sat down on the bench in the entryway, and motioned for Kristy to do the same. She gently reached out and put her hand over her granddaughters.

"I can't do this anymore Kristy," Nannie said, her voice breaking. "I can't live her and watch this family fall to pieces. It would break my heart to think that my love isn't enough."

"Are you leaving? You can't, Nannie. I don't know what to do without you!" Kristy's voice was rising, and her panic was evident.

Hearing this caused tears to fall freely out of Nannie's eyes. "It's not my choice, sweetheart," she said softly. "Watson thinks it's best that I find somewhere else to live. He says he appreciates my help, but that he and your mother can run the family on their own," she explained, her bitterness evident through her sadness.

"You don't have to listen to him," Kristy protested weakly.

"Yes I do." Nannie said simply. "You'll understand someday."

With this, Nannie rose to leave. "I'll be back to visit soon. I'm going to go stay with your Aunt Theo and Uncle Neal for a little while. You can come and visit me too, if you'd like. You must miss your cousins."

Kristy nodded, a lump forming in the back of her throat. She had no idea what to say.

Nannie stepped forward, and gave Kristy a hug. "I love you. Don't you ever forget that."

"What am I supposed to tell everyone," she asked.

"I assume that your mother and Watson are going to take care of that," Nannie said. "Now go take care of Emily. She's going to need you."

"Okay," Kristy said, reaching up to brush back tears. If only she hadn't stayed home today. Going through the motions as school would have been hard, but nothing could be harder than this. She couldn't bear to watch Nannie go.

"I love you," Nannie said again, closing the door behind her.

Kristy watched out the window until the Pink Clinker had backed out of the driveway and had drove out of sight. Nannie was gone.

And so was much of her hope.


	20. Chapter 20

The bus dropped Kristy off at the end of the block, and she walked up her driveway and towards the house alone. Abby had been in school that day, but for some reason she hadn't taken the bus home. It was just as well, though. Dealing with Abby and her drama was that last thing that Kristy needed right now. Sam hadn't taken the bus home either, and she didn't know why.

She hadn't talked to any of her siblings besides Emily at all yesterday. Everyone had come home from school just as usual, so consumed with their own lives to notice the silence that had descended on the house. It was then that Elizabeth has talked to all the kids either alone or in pairs, and explained to them that Nannie wasn't going to be living with them anymore. Kristy didn't know what pathetic explanation that her mom had given. She hadn't made any move at all to talk to Kristy, who had held Emily Michelle close to her all day, using her as some sort of human shield, protecting both of them from more emotional pain. Kristy and her mom hadn't talked since she had told her the truth about her family and Watson's role in it.

Maybe it was better that way.

It has been just over a day since Nannie left, and Kristy swore that she could feel a visceral difference in the house. Even during the last few months, coming home had felt light and welcoming; Nannie had always been home to greet everyone and to keep everything from falling apart with her love and endless hugs.

Kristy breathed a sigh of relief when she opened the door and heard nothing but an empty silence. She couldn't bear the thought of talking to anybody right now. She crept up to her room slowly and carefully as to avoid being heard by anyone in the house. Really, all that she wanted to do was get to her room and sit. To say that she needed time to her self right now was an understatement.

Making it into her room, she kicked off her shoes, set down her backpack next to her desk, and crumpled into a ball on her bed. She grabbed one of the useless throw pillows her mom had purchased last year when they had redecorated her room and held it tight for comfort. She made no efforts to move and start working on the homework that she was becoming very behind in, or to investigate the sounds that filled the second floor hallways as her siblings arrived home from school. She slowly reduced her world to consist of only herself, her bed, and her pillow, and remained that way for the next hour and a half.

Eventually it became dinner time, and the noise on the second floor ceased as the kids made their way downstairs to the kitchen. Kristy made no efforts to move, and ignored the shouting from various members of the family informing her that dinner was ready. When it has quieted down somewhat, Kristy was relieved, and sure that she had been able to get out of the family meal. She wasn't very hungry anyway.

Closing her eyes and intending to fall asleep, Kristy was disturbed by the sound of her door being opened by her mother.

"Oh I- I'm sorry. Did I- Did I wake you? Were you sleeping?" Elizabeth stammered.

Kristy rolled over, pretending to be simply tired, instead of confused and resigned. "Yes, I'm sleeping. Please go away." At this point there was no point in hiding her true feelings from her mother.

"Were you planning on coming down for dinner? Everyone else is already at the table."

"No." Kristy said, leaving the word to hang in the air. An eternity of silence filled the space between the mother and daughter until Elizabeth spoke again.

"I'm so sorry Kristy, but- I wouldn't ask you to do this unless- It's just that Watson is home for dinner tonight. And he wants to have a family meal. Please." Kristy looked at her mother and had to turn away to avoid seeing the pleading look in her eyes. Elizabeth was a shell of the person that she used to be, and it pained Kristy to look at her.

"I can't mom…I'm sorry."

"Kristy," Elizabeth pleaded. "Please."

Unlike her mother, Kristy was not a shell of the person that she had been before. The last two months had been a horrible reality for herself and her family, and though she was undeniably hurt and changed, she remained at her core a strong and unwavering young woman. If her mother needed her, she would go. It was that simple.

"Okay. I'll come."

"Thank you so much, sweetie." Elizabeth said, the relief obvious in her voice. "You- you know how much I love you, right?"

Instead of responding, Kristy pulled herself out of bed and proceeded down the hallway, her mother trailing behind her. Taking a deep breath, she walked down the stairs and into the dining room, where the rest of her family was seated. She took note of the vodka tonic that Watson was drinking. That wasn't a good sign.

"Hi Kristy," called Karen, seeing her sister. "Are you done being an ungrateful brat now?"

"Karen!" Watson admonished

"What? That is what you said she was doing." Karen pouted.

"Never mind her," Watson said, turning to look toward Kristy. "It's nice to see you, _dear._"

Something in the tone of Watson's voice sent chills down Kristy's spine. She hurriedly seated herself between Sam and Emily Michelle, hoping for some kind of protection from her older brother, as well as the possibility to busy herself with helping her youngest sister.

"Well it's certainly nice to have a family meal," Elizabeth said, weakly.

"It's not a family meal without Nannie," David Michael pouted. "When is she coming back?"

"Yeah, when is she coming back?" Andrew asked. "I miss Nannie."

"Nannie promised me that she was going to make new dresses for all of my dolls," added Karen.

"Enough!" Watson shouted. "All you kids do is complain and whine. You have no idea how good you have it! Nannie is gone, and she is not coming back. Now I want everyone to shut up and enjoy this meal, God damn it!"

Kristy protectively put her arm around Emily Michelle as she looked across the table to her younger siblings, whose eyes grew as big as saucers. Instead of their usual chatter, a silence filled the room as the family passed plates and bowl and began to eat.

"That's more like it," Watson said, smirking. "But we don't have to eat in silence. Sam, how are things going in school? Are you still keeping your grades up? And how is Stacey- we haven't seen much of her around lately."

"Nu-uh!" Karen yelled. "Stacey was here yesterday and Sam was kissing her!"

"Eww!" David Michael and Andrew yelled.

"Stacey is doing fine," Sam mumbled.

"Settle down, kids," Watson said chuckling. "Stacey is a fine young woman. What about you, Kristy? How is school going?"

Not wanting to play into the happy family routine, Kristy looked down at her plate and said nothing.

"Have you had any babysitting jobs recently" Elizabeth asked, her voice pleading.

Without saying anything, Kristy set down her fork, and pushed back her chair. She wordlessly walked out of the dining room, and was halfway up the stairs before anyone said anything.

"Get back here young lady!" Watson called, his voice booming.

Kristy stopped on the staircase, but made no effort to turn around. Truthfully, she didn't have any idea what she should do. She wanted nothing more than to be in her bed, blocking out everything around her. She was scared of what would happen if she ignored Watson and went to her room. But she was even more scared of what would happen if she were to turn around.

Watson stalked into the entryway, eyeing up Kristy standing on the stairs. "Get down here this instant, _Kristin_, you are a part of this family and you are damn well going to act like it."

"I never asked to be part of this family!" Kristy shouted, rushing upstairs to her room. She slammed the door shut and sat down in front of it. She hugged her knees to her chest and started crying, letting the tears fall freely.

Kristy's peace lasted only a moment, as Watson was now in the hallway banging on her door. "Let me in-I will break down this door if I have to Kristy!"

Conceding, Kristy stood up and opened the door. She tried not to let onto how scared she was as she looked her stepfather straight in the eye. She said nothing.

"I thought that I made myself clear in our conversation the other night," Watson spat out. "As long as I am providing for you and the rest of your ungrateful family, you need to abide by my rules. You're precious Nannie couldn't do that, so she had to leave. Tell me, are you going to have the same problem?"

Not knowing what to do, Kristy shook her head almost imperceptibly.

"Good." Watson said, shaking his head in disgust. "I'm tired of looking at you- stay in your room for the rest of the evening. "

With that Watson left the room and shut the door. Kristy crumbled to the floor and started sobbing. All that she wanted was to be left alone, but somehow she didn't want _this._

She had no idea what to do.


	21. Chapter 21

"Please Charlie, you have to come home- we need you!" Kristy pleaded.

"Relax, Kristy, I can't right now- I just can't . You need to stop asking," Charlie said.

"I know everything, Charlie. Mom told me. I know about Patrick, and Watson and David Michael. I know how everyone lied, and I know how everyone is still lying, and I know that you lied right along with them!" Kristy felt herself becoming worked up, but she had every reason too. She was running out of options.

"Don't act to self righteous, Kristy. I did what I had to do, and so did mom, and everyone else. That's what people do. You'll understand someday.

"But I don't understand, Charlie! I don't understand how lying to everyone can ever be right. It may be the easiest thing for a while, but nothing comes out of it but hurt. Of course, you would know that if you were ever home!"

"Kristy, Boiceville State is my home now- I belong here. You'll understand that when you get to college. Right now, you need to stop being so hard on mom. You have no idea what went on ten years ago, and you probably don't have any idea what's going on now!"

"No, you don't have any idea what's going on now, Charlie! And the only reason I don't know everything is because everyone is lying to me. Everybody lies!"

"You're right, Kristy, everybody lies. It's a fact of life, and the sooner you realize that the better. Call me back when you grow up," Charlie paused. "Good bye." With that, Charlie hung up the phone, leaving the dial tone ringing in Kristy's ear.

Frustrated, Kristy slammed down the phone and kicked the wall. In her mind, Charlie was officially not a member of the family anymore. He didn't care about her, or any of them. Or maybe he did. Maybe he did, but he couldn't deal with it, or he had to live his own life, or something like that. She couldn't imagine her older brother deserting them without a good reason. But still, no matter what the reason, she needed help, and her brother wasn't there to give it. His small refusal to act said so much.

Still, though, a part of her wondered about what Charlie was saying. Was there ever really a good reason for all of the lies? After all, she hadn't known the truth for years, and she had been better off as a result of it. Hadn't she? And Sam and David Michael and all of the other kids_ still _didn't know the truth, and though things were bad enough for them right now, the truth would only make it worse, as it had done for Kristy. And she wouldn't wish what she was feeling on anyone, but was living an easier lie better than the hard truth?

Was it still considered living a lie, when you didn't actually know the truth?

Kristy truly didn't know where to turn. She called Abby, but the phone just rang and rang, without the answering machine even picking up. Maybe the phone was off the hook. Of course, Kristy wouldn't let that stop her- she looked out the hallway window and saw that Abby's light was on. She needed someone, and Abby was next in the process of elimination. And technically, they were still best friends. That had to mean something.

Abby had disappointed her before, but that didn't mean that she would necessarily do it again. Maybe Kristy was naïve, but she had to believe that there was someone who would be there for her.

Kristy grabbed her jacket and ran out the side door. Winter was coming, and the air had something of a bite to it. She shivered as she made her way over to the Stevenson house. She rang the doorbell and stood on the porch waiting for someone to let her in- she wasn't going to let herself in and make the same mistake as last time.

Normally, she would hear Abby bounding down the stairs. Instead Anna padded down softly and opened the door.

"Hi- oh hi, Kristy," Anna said. "I was expecting Bart. Come in."

Kristy stepped into the entryway. "Are you still with Bart, after...what happened?"

Anna blushed, and nervously fidgeted with her bracelet. "Yeah. Yeah, he explained everything to me. I know maybe we shouldn't be together, but I really like him. And…it's just easier this way. Does that make any sense?"

Kristy nodded. She wasn't that close to Anna, but for some reason she felt a tenuous connection to her. "Yeah, I understand. A month ago, I wouldn't have, but now I do." Impulsively, she reached out and gave Anna a hug.

"Thanks, Kristy," Anna said, taken aback. "I think that we both needed that," she said, softening. She hugged Kristy tight.

"I think so too," Kristy said simply.

"Abby's upstairs," Anna said, letting go.

"Thanks, Anna," Kristy said. For a fleeting moment she wondered why she wasn't better friends with Anna. Initially she had been upset when Anna hadn't joined the Babysitter's Club along with Abby. Could something that simple effectively decide the future of a friendship? Kristy was beginning to understand, to a point, how the decisions that everyone made were never simple, and never complete. Their effects, like tiny ripples, were carried out over time and their repercussions continued on forever.

For a second, she could almost understand her mom. What Elizabeth had done could happen to anyone. You make one decision, and then another, and then another. Eventually you're living a life that you never bargained for, and it becomes easier to just accept it and move on than to shatter the image and return to the way that things were supposed to be.

But even so, that didn't make it right.

Kristy almost ached with everything that was going on inside of her. She came back to reality and head upstairs to Abby's room. She stopped for a moment, and then raised her hand and knocked. "Abby, it's me."

Abby opened the door slowly. "Hey," she said, giving her friend a shy smile.

Kristy stepped into her friend's room. Typical Abby, it was a mess: clothes, dirty and clean, littered the floor. School books, notebooks, and cd's were stacked on her desk, while her bed was unmade, and some sort of make shift soccer goal was set up in the corner. Normally, this would aggravate Kristy to no end, but instead she found it comforting. Typical Abby.

"Why haven't you been in school this week?" Kristy asked.

"I was, um, suspended," Abby stammered. She didn't offer any sort of explanation.

"Suspended! Abby, what happened? Why?" Kristy hadn't been expecting this. She wondered what happened when you turned to your best friend, but she had so many of her own problems to deal with that she couldn't offer you any help at all.

Maybe she was about to find out.

Abby shrugged. "It doesn't really matter. I'm much more concerned about making sure that my mom doesn't find out. I've deleted every message, took the phone off the hook, and I'm paying Linny Papadakis to check our mail as soon as he gets home from school every day. And I had to promise Anna I would do her chores for six months _and_ not tell mom about Bart being here, ever," she said rolling her eyes.

"I'm surprised that Anna accepted any deal, considering, you know, that you made out with her boyfriend," Kristy said pointedly.

Abby narrowed her eyes. "Don't think that I forgot about that, Kristy. Just because you walked in on us doesn't mean that you know everything about what was going on."

"Well then what does it mean?" Kristy asked, getting frustrated. She was loosing her cool and forgetting why she had come over in the first place. "What are you doing, Abby? I feel like I don't even know you anymore."

Abby's face softened. "Maybe that's because you don't. I'm not even sure if you could call us friends anymore. I know you've had a lot going on lately, and I get that, but in the process we kind of fell apart. And I found other friends. It happens."

"What…what other friends?" Kristy asked, confused.

Abby blushed. "You know, some of the girls on the team. I've been hanging out with them more lately. They're cool."

"What are you saying?"

"We've had some good times, Kristy. The Babysitter's Club was really fun, while it lasted. But we don't really have that much in common anymore- you've got to be able to see that." Abby fidgeted with her necklace nervously.

Kristy drew in her breath.

"I think that we'll always be friends, to a point," Abby continued. "We just won't be _friends_ friends."

That was all that Kristy needed to hear. She and Abby would never be friends again. She walked out of the room while Abby was still talking, and continued down the stairs and out of the house. And even though it may have looked like she was walking out on Abby, she felt that it was very clear that Abby had walked out on her first.


End file.
